Another Lifetime
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: Hiatus-Souls travel together in packs, evolving as they live their lives over again; changing, making amends for past mistakes. Can two souls who have failed to reconcile in all of their lifetimes come together in what can only be their last chance?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So I am obviously mixing charmed and highlander to make what I hope is one kick ass story. Please, while reading this remember that I am writing this as if the events of the last highlander movie Highlander: The Source never took place. I think I have an exciting idea for where to take this and you guys can probably already guess what's coming. I look forward to your feed back so please READ and REVIEW.

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><p>Steps clanked along the pavement as the figure ran down the alley. The air was charged with anticipation; excitement for the game. Coming face to face with their opponent, swords raised and the strike of steel took the head off the weaker immortal.<p>

* * *

><p>"Uh," Paige groaned as she entered the Halliwell manor bags in hand. "You know, we only just had a wedding a week ago. Why are we having another family party," she bitched and heaved the groceries onto the dining room table.<p>

"If I knew you were going to complain so much I would have sent Leo for the food," Piper said and started rummaging through the bags. "Ah, Port," she said and a sad smile came across her face.

"Yeah, that cost a pretty penny or two. Don't let Henry know how much I paid for it," Paige grimaced. "What do you need it for anyway, it's not like I drink even if I could," she said rubbing her baby bump, "and as far as I know you like to stick to your juice boxes," the youngest joke.

"One time," Piper bit off. "I have one of Wyatt's juice boxes one time because we're in the park and I forgot my water and you won't let me live it down," she complained. "Uh, anyway, Port is the main ingredient in my specialty dish and since we're celebrating I thought it would be perfect."

"Isn't every dish your specialty?"

"Very good thing to say," Piper responded to her sister's attempt to suck up to her. "I am preparing a feast tonight so look forward to that. Everything your pregnancy makes you crave will be yours in a couple of hours," she said and rubbed her sister's belly. "How are the twins doing today?"

"Uh, you know, constantly duking it out for room in the womb and terrorizing mommy in the process. Henry is so lucky I don't pull some hocus pocus place switching magic on him so he can understand what this all feels like. It was hilarious when that happened to Leo," Paige said snacking on a piece of fruit.

Piper grabbed the bags and took them into the kitchen, laying them on the island. Returning to Paige with a glass of milk, she sat with the youngest and grabbed a peach. "I can't believe how big you are and you're only five months along."

"It's the whole 'twin' thing. I still can't believe it. I mean, here we are using protection and not only do we get an unplanned pregnancy but it's with twins. How does that happen?"

"Just means it was meant to be," Piper said.

"By the way, where are your kids?"

"Leo and Coop took them to a dodger's game. Apparently, Coop set up one of the players with the girl of their dreams and they gave him free tickets. God only knows what those two are feeding the boys right now," Piper said dismayed at the prospect of cavity inducing cotton candy and cracker jacks.

"Um, I'm uh, kind of surprised you let them go," Paige said slyly. "That's a big step for you isn't it," she teased.

"Very funny, make fun of the neurotic mom who tends to obsess. Do you want my children to grow up to be well adjusted boys or do you want me to lock them in their rooms until they're forty, 'cause you teasing me is making me worried," Piper said.

"Sorry," the youngest held up her in hands, "I promise I will stop. Where's Phoebe during all of this?"

"Phoebe is at the newspaper working on some extra columns so she can afford to take a couple of days off to spend more time with Coop. I guess the honeymoon wasn't as long as they would have liked."

"Well, when you marry cupid who could blame you," Paige winked and bit into her apple. "Are you making your strawberry kiwi cheesecake," Paige asked.

"No. Why?"

"Could you?"

* * *

><p>Lightening swept across the night sky in a violent tango, coursing through the air and finally settling in the victor, lifting them against their will as they received the strength and power from yet another competitor. Heart pounding, mind racing, the gathering was the ultimate orgasm wracking the body until there was nothing left to give; take.<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh my God," Phoebe said devouring the chocolate petit four Coop had just fed her. "Piper this is heavenly!"<p>

"Thank you very much," Piper said delighted at the gathering.

All three couples were dressed to the nines and Piper had music playing in the background. Friends from the newspaper, the police department and the bar had been invited for the event and Phoebe was wondering why Piper was going through all the trouble. Phoebe had a private wedding with the family and a public reception after to celebrate with friends. There didn't seem to be anything else to celebrate, other than finally having their freedom of course.

The party had started a little over an hour earlier, and Phoebe arrived late from work, rushing to get ready for whatever surprise was coming. It was nice to know for once that the surprise was a good one instead of a demonic one, the middle sister thought and mingled with the guests.

It was nice to have a normal gathering without the worry of sudden outbursts and potentially fatal threats. What was even better was that it felt ordinary and for the first time in a long time Phoebe realized that she was at peace with everything. After all the fighting and the losses she had endured, Phoebe finally felt like her life was exactly where she was meant to be without constantly battling to hold onto it.

Piper searched the crowd and found Leo, Coop and Henry talking baseball with some of the guys from the bar. "Sorry, but I have to steal him away for a few minutes," Piper said joining hands with Leo and they beamed at each other as they fought their way to the stair case.

"Um hmm," Piper cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at the eldest surviving Halliwell. "I can't thank you enough for coming today. It's not often that we're able to gather our closest friends and family together like this and that makes this even more special an occasion.

"Some of you may not know our family history. You would be shocked to know that up until five years ago that Phoebe and I didn't realize that we had a younger sister or even that Paige was raised by two very special people who took her into their home and their hearts when my mother was unable to provide that at the time. Our family has been through a lot. We lost our mother at a very young age and were raised by our Grams, and later we lost our older sister, Prue," Piper began to tear up and Leo squeezed her hand in support.

"These past couple of years has seen us through some terrible tragedies, and some wonderful blessings, like my two sons, my unborn nieces, and three very happy marriages. I am extremely proud to announce two more blessings in our lives. I've decided to expand my business and will be opening my own restaurant," Piper said and was met with applause and cat calls from her sisters.

"What's the other blessing," Wendy yelled out and Piper looked at Leo, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Leo and I are finally going to have a little girl."

"Oh my God," her sisters screamed, and rushed to her side, hugging her and Leo.

The night continued and people began to clear out, leaving the men to carry glasses out to Piper's truck while the women sat and talked.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us before this," Paige slapped her sister on the arm. "How far along are you?"

Piper rubbed her arm. "I'm almost four months along," she said and ducked more smacks. "Hey! You should know better than to hit a pregnant woman," she chastised the younger two.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner," Phoebe demanded.

"I didn't realize I could even be pregnant until I almost miscarried," Piper admitted and her sisters went silent. Fortunately, I was able to get in to see me doctor and everything has been well since, but Leo and I decided to wait until the second trimester started just in case something happened. When I started the trimester last month we were all planning your quickie wedding," she reminded Phoebe, "and I didn't want to take away from the twins."

"Okay," Paige said. "I choose to remain level headed and calm about this instead of responding in a completely emotional rage as is my right as a sister," she reminded Piper. "Have you decided on any names?"

"I am still planning on using Prudence Melinda as her name. I think after everything we've been through and finally getting our happy ending," she said and reached for their hands, "I think, that Prue deserves to be a part of that happiness. If in name only," Piper said sadly.

"What about you Paige? Any names for the twins yet," Phoebe asked.

"I was thinking Priscilla and Peyton. New names into the family tree but they still follow the tradition, just like me. I just have to figure out their middle names."

"You know what could be really nice," Phoebe said, "you could let Henry choose their middle names. I know he grew up without knowing his family, but it might make him feel a little more involved in the whole process. Since we're all so tight knit and family oriented."

"I will take that into consideration as long as he doesn't choose names like Esther or Eugenia."

"Yeah," Phoebe drew out, "I'm not letting Coop name my children," referring to her husband's obviously bad taste in names.

"He's like Leo; from a different era. You just have to teach them what's acceptable for now," Piper advised Phoebe.

"You mean train him to get my way."

"Exactly! Now you get it," Paige joked.

The sisters said goodbye and went to their separate homes, embracing what was right in front of them and letting go of the past.

* * *

><p>He was over four hundred years old, born in the year 1592 in the highlands of Scotland. Duncan Macleod was one of the more human Immortals, still looking to live his life rather than end others. Recently, Los Angeles was being haunted with his kind, as more and more murders were being reported as decapitations and America had decided that they had another serial killer to add to the infamous list of killers like Dahmer and Bundy.<p>

Duncan had been following the deaths, and since he was going to be in the area looking for new pieces for his antiquities business, he figured he would investigate the murders.

He kept getting closer, and last night he had been within walking distance of the other Immortal. He felt them, first getting nearer and then disappearing. Duncan knew that whoever it was they must be strong. At least seven heads had been taken in the course of the game, and they were all elderly ones more than three thousand years old.

Whoever was executing these Immortals was strong, smart, and a strategic warrior, and if Duncan didn't stop them than he knew it would only be a matter of time before this Immortal came looking for him. They had already killed Methos.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I previously mentioned that the events in the Highlander: The Source movie don't apply to this story but neither do Highlander: The Endgame or the last season or so of the series. I needed to use some characters that would otherwise be impossible if I were to follow those story lines completely.

* * *

><p>Whoever was executing these Immortals was strong, smart, and a strategic warrior, and if Duncan didn't stop them than he knew it would only be a matter of time before this Immortal came looking for him. They had already killed Methos.<p>

Then again, who could blame them, the highlander joked to himself as he remembered his strained relationship with the original immortal. It was hard to believe that he was gone forever, having lived so many lifetimes in only one sitting. Still, if Methos' head could be taken, then so could Duncan's and the scot just couldn't let that be. He liked his head exactly where it was.

Duncan still had some contacts in California, and he had decided to collect some favors while he was here. He wanted to gather as much information as he could, and look in on some old friends who had probably long forgotten about him.

* * *

><p>Henry and Paige walked to the car, and Henry helped his very pregnant wife into her seat. They had recently traded her car in for an SUV since they couldn't very well fit two newborn babies in it. The two were coming from her bi-monthly doctor's appointment and Henry would be taking her out for lunch before returning to his office.<p>

Lately, the mortal had been looking into his past; trying to find out where he came from and whether or not he had someone out there to call family. He hadn't realized how badly he had missed having family in his life until he met Paige, and Henry wanted to know where he came from so that one day he could tell his daughters where they came from.

Sitting through lunch, listening to Paige rambling on, Henry was brought back by the sound of his wife saying, "So, I was thinking that maybe you wanted to pick out middle names for Priscilla and Peyton."

"Seriously, you trust me enough to do that," Henry joked. The two had been bickering for weeks about what needed to get done for the twins' arrival, what Henry was capable of doing, and what should be left for Leo to help them with.

"Oh, shush! Leo used to be a handy man and he's had two kids for Christ's sake. The man knows what he's doing. Besides, I thought it would be nice but if you don't want to…"

"I didn't say that," he laughed and reached for her hand.

Paige took a sip of her smoothie and squeezed his hand. There was no need for words between the two. The eyes said it all.

* * *

><p>Piper met Leo at the building they had recently purchased. Stepping inside, Piper was in awe of what she saw, not paying attention to the paint cans and trays scattered about the place. She saw light fluttering through open windows and dust rising like ghosts disturbed by new lives taking residence in their homes. New Life; Piper held a hand to her abdomen.<p>

Stepping over tarps and paint brushes, Piper walked up to her husband and hugged him from behind. "Thank you," she whispered.

Leo laughed. "You're welcome," he said and turned to face her. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good," Piper told him. "I think the morning sickness has officially passed. Little Prudence is taking it easy on Mommy. A lot easier than Chris or Wyatt ever was. I hope that's a good sign," she said as an afterthought.

"Well, we can hope," the blond joked. "But considering Wyatt is Twice blessed and Chris traveled across time to save the world I think we can expect great things from her. Especially if she take's after her namesake," Leo said.

Piper sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "I would like that but I kind of think Chris is a lot like her too. Wyatt is a bigger mixture out of Paige and Phoebe."

"Powerful but a little ditzy," Leo joked. "Owe," he laughed when Piper smacked him. "I'm kidding!"

"That's our son," Piper defended. "He's got to be a little better than _those_ two," she said.

"Don't worry. They grew out of it," Leo told her.

"Oh, God," Piper groaned. "That took _forever_!"

Leo kissed his wife. "Don't worry. We have a couple of decades before we have to be concerned, anyway."

* * *

><p>Duncan entered an antiques shop and looked around. Stepping up to look at an original fresco, he was held by a quiet contemplation of the piece when he felt a hand slap across his back and turned to see his old friend, Richie.<p>

"Mac! What are you doing here, ol' buddy?"

"Ah, Richie!" They embraced in a man hug, clapping each other on the back before letting go. "It's been too long, old friend. It's been over a decade since you made the move back to the states."

"Yeah," Richie said and grinned from ear to ear. "I'm really glad to see you, Mac. What brings you?"

It had been eleven years since Richie moved here to start his own antique shop. That's what most of the immortals in his life did. First Conner, then Mac. It was how they were able to keep their most beloved mementos out in public without the fear of someone discovering what they really were.

It was easy for Richie. At least so far. He had only been dead for a little more than a decade. He filled his time with taking courses at the local community college, well, auditing them. It was far cheaper and he didn't have to take tests or do assignments. Richie learned for two reasons; desire and power. Besides, he had an active social life and for long periods of a time was able to forget that he was immortal; that eternity looked just like every other day.

Richie had chosen San Francisco for the atmosphere. The women didn't hurt anyway.

"California is a large place," Mac said, glancing around. "Can we talk in private?"

"Uh, sure. Let's go in my office," he said, leading the way. "Andrea, can you handle the floor? If anyone asks I'm in a meeting," Richie told her.

The brunette nodded from her desk and she got back to filing the latest insurance policy claims they had filled out for the new acquisitions.

The door closed and Richie went to his bar, pouring drinks for both of them. "This have to do with the murders in L.A?"

"Do you know something about them," MacLeod asked. "Who it is who is hunting all of those immortals?"

Richie sat on the edge of his desk. "It's more like the other way around," he told his mentor. "I've only run into a few immortals over the years. Most of the time we feel each other and stay to ourselves, you know, trying to keep ourselves alive. Lately though, it's like our numbers have sky rocketed."

"You mean, the immortals are coming here? Like they're the ones doing the hunting and…"

"…and the killer is the one being hunted," Richie said. "I've talked to a few 'friends' and we've each talked. Some of them think they've been in close contact with the killer, but they've walked away uninjured. We think, because they didn't pursue him or her, that the killer is only killing other immortals in self-defense."

"But why would masses of immortals come after one in particular, all at the same time?"

Richie shrugged. "I don't know, but as long as they're leaving the rest of us alone we've all decided not to go after them. If they can handle the attacks on their own then it means less immortals that will come after us. More and more of our kind are choosing not to play the game unless it's completely necessary."

"I'm afraid it has become necessary," Duncan said. "Methos was killed," he told his friend.

* * *

><p>Phoebe sauntered into the manner. "Piper! Leo!" Wandering through the dining room into the kitchen, she found her sister sitting at a table looking at different samples for tile, rugs, and paint colors.<p>

"Hey," Piper said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were meeting Billy for lunch."

It had only been three years since the Charmed ones had faced the so called 'ultimate power' and put an end to the Triad. Since then, the sisters had slowly invited Billy back into their lives. It had been difficult, after such a large betrayal, but their young novice had begun to make amends and the past was fading as the future took prominence.

"She had to cancel," Phoebe explained. "Something came up and she said something about visiting L.A for a little while."

"Well, she had better get home soon," Piper said. "We still have Paige's baby shower to plan. We can have it at the restaurant, before we open to the public and of course I'll make the food and cake."

"Will it be ready in time?"

"Yeah," Piper told her. "I just have to pick out the finishing touches for my office and all of the furniture and supplies should be delivered within the next two weeks. I am thinking of picking up a partner, though. I still have to think about the club and who is going to manage that."

"Well, honey, haven't you thought that maybe Paige could come on as a partner? In the club, I mean. We never added her on to the house, and you and I co-own the club because of the second mortgage. She would have to buy in but we can take it out of her share of the profits rather than have her pay up front."

"Aly could manage the club until after the twins are born and Paige is great at office work," Piper said. "She can handle ordering supplies and pay roll. Maybe she can even get a website up and running."

"Paige would be great at that. What about Billy? She needs a job while she's finishing school. Has she talked to you about her plans for continuing her education?"

"No, she hasn't," Piper said. "I'll talk to her when she comes back. Did you make the guest list for the baby shower?"

Phoebe grimaced.

"Phoebe!"

* * *

><p>Billy appeared in an alleyway from thin air. She had been tracing the steps of the latest supernatural being that had been making waves. Decapitations had been occurring regularly for the past few months and the police had no leads on the assailant.<p>

The only reason Billy could tell that magic was involved was by the only clue in the entire case. A sword had been left at the scene of one of the murders, only to be stolen from evidence days later with no physical evidence to suggest who had come back for the murder weapon. A French, silver sword with Mother of Pearl Courtsword épée marked "Coulaux aîné & Cie" dating it to 1840.

Billy's research had turned up similar murders across the nation spanning the past two centuries. Her biggest find, a case from 1985 in New York, where the main suspect Russell Nash had disappeared into thin air.

He abandoned his antique shop after an explosion had taken it, though he had insurance for it, and her hacking had lead her to a series of birth certificates and property deeds that were attached to deceased infants who would be unable to inherit the building as documented. Still, dozens of similar murders happening in multiple locations at the same time as well as across the centuries lead to only one thing. A demon.

Billy was visiting the most recent scene and was focusing on returning to the night of the murder. The only thing she had discovered the connected the victims was a commonality with Russell Nash. They didn't really exist. All had assumed identities other than their own. All were a mystery waiting to be solved.

The air around her became charged as her breathing stilled. She focused. Time melted away and she was the only thing that stayed the same as the rest of the world changed. It was the early morning and Billy heard the clanging of metal, scraping against the street and she hid behind a car; waiting to see what had brought her here.

Peering out from behind the car, she caught a glimpse of two figures. One pure masculinity, the other surprisingly female. The sword from the crime scene photos swung and Billy saw a head roll down the alley. Gasping, she covered her mouth and looked back to try and see if she could identify the woman. _Turn_, she thought to herself and suddenly the woman did. She turned to look right at Billy, and before she could get a handle on it Billy found herself being forcibly moved back to her own time.

"Huh," she expelled the breath that was trying to strangle her. Taking a potion out of her jacket, Billy threw it to the ground and vanished in a haze of smoke.


	3. Chapter 3

"And you didn't get a look at her face," Piper asked, turning to glance at her two running children to make sure nothing was in danger of breaking. In the past couple of years she had mellowed out a bit enough to keep from yelling at them, but not completely disregarding their wild behavior.

"No," Billy said. "There was something so familiar about her and it was like when you're thinking of a word and it's on the tip of your tongue but you're just missing it for whatever reason. I'm dying to figure it out."

Phoebe stopped typing to look up from her column. "Well, you might not know why she was familiar but what do you remember about her? Maybe we can try to project you back to that moment so you can narrow it down."

"I don't think that will work," Paige interrupted. "Billy already said that this person forced Billy back through her own projection. That has to take a hell of a lot of power. I mean, I don't know anyone that powerful and we're the _Charmed ones_. Sending Billy back might just give this witch another reason to hurt her."

"Are you so sure she was a witch," Billy asked the sisters. "Doesn't that sound more like a demon?"

"No demon we know has the ability to do what you're saying that woman did," Piper said. "And we haven't found any entries in the book of shadows about anything that even comes close to describing what you saw."

"So where does that leave us," Phoebe asked.

Paige, Phoebe and Billy stared at Piper who sighed and closed her eyes. "Leo," she called out in that old familiar way. However, Leo entered in an astonishingly normal way; he walked in through the kitchen to the dining room where his wife sat with her sisters and Billy.

"What do you need, hon?"

"What do you know about supernatural beings who decapitate people?"

* * *

><p>"Methos? Are you certain?"<p>

"I received a phone call from him," Duncan told Richie. "He had some dealings out here and there was a piece he thought I might want for my personal collection. I don't know what it was. Methos didn't go into great detail, only that he would call me after his meeting with someone who would be able to authenticate the piece. Whoever it was, they killed Methos and took off with it. I got a call from an old friend who told me that they had found Methos' head."

"That's rough, man. I never thought Methos would go out like that. He didn't give you any clues as to what it was he was trying to get his hands on?"

"No, only that I had a personal history with it."

Duncan paced back and forth before stopping and downing the drink Richie had made him. "I've lived over four hundred years," he told his pupil. "There are hundreds of things that I have a history with. You haven't heard anything from your contacts," he asked.

"No, Mac. The only things I've heard any interest about are some paintings from this up and coming artist. New pieces; nothing you would have come in contact with," Richie went back to his bar and poured himself another glass. "How do you plan on finding this person? If they really are defending themselves and not looking for trouble, what makes you so sure that you'll find them?"

"I'm not sure," Duncan told him. "And if they are killing to defend themselves than I can't really do anything to them, but I can make sure that what we're assuming is true, and if it is I can help protect them. They must be very powerful or have something of great value for all of these immortals to come after them."

* * *

><p>"Uh," Billy exclaimed and slammed her book shut. Burying her head in her hands, the blond expelled her frustration at not being able to find what it was she was looking for.<p>

It had been a week since Billy returned from L.A. and she hadn't turned up any new information on whatever it was she was trying to track down. Two more murders had occurred and Billy had been hot on the trail of this mystery woman but the black haired vixen was always three steps ahead of Billy and the sisters.

Leo hadn't recalled anything about demons decapitating humans or anything similar, and so the sisters had returned to their research. Paige was entering her sixth month of pregnancy and Piper wasn't that far behind her.

Of course, now that Phoebe and Paige were out of the manor, there was extra room for Piper to move the boys into another room and she was starting to decorate the nursery for Little Prue's arrival. The wallpaper had been stripped and Leo was spending a lot of time painting. It had to be the sweetest little baby room Billy had ever seen, with Prue spelled out in wood cut outs hanging from ribbons on the wall next to the crib. The walls were a pale yellow and the bedding was bright pink with birds on it.

Billy wondered what it would be like to have a family like that, digressing from her research. Her parents were gone and she had killed her sister almost three years earlier. Billy was still recuperating from that. Sure, she had gotten through school and she had managed to make amends with the sisters, but Billy knew she had a lot to make up for and would be a long time before she got around to having kids of her own. Besides, she didn't know how to trust herself let alone a man.

Getting up from her chair, Billy grabbed her purse and picked her keys up off the table by the stairs where she had thrown them earlier, right next to a picture of Piper and Phoebe with their late sister Prue before getting out of the manor for some air.

* * *

><p>"You are right, Richie," Duncan said. "These portraits are amazing!"<p>

"I told you. No one knows her real name, but her work is garnering well-deserved attention. Her style is very eclectic. She does everything from photography to paintings to sketching. Each piece is like a moment from a different life as if she's lived through them all. I have to show you the piece I bought from her last month," so enthused by Duncan's reaction to the artist.

"What is your piece like?" They had been investigating the murders all week with no clues to go off of. They were taking the night off to see the city and there was an exhibit at an art gallery featuring the very enigmatic artist Richie had told Mac about days earlier.

"It's otherworldly," Richie began. "It looks like a figure emerging from this pure white light and it's done in a series of three portraits. It looks like a woman emerges, a man emerges and the third part is the two figures together. It's completely ethereal and she called it 'Muirn Beatha Dan'."

"That's Gaelic," Duncan said. "It's the wiccan word for a witch's soul mate."

Richie turned to look at his teacher. "Are you okay, Mac? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It just sounds familiar," he said. "Richie, let's go back to your place. I want to see the piece you have," Mac told his friend.

* * *

><p>"SURPRISE!"<p>

The crowd jumped out and yelled in unison as Henry ushered Paige into the Manor House. Paige's protruding belly seemed to enter the room before her and she smiled at the group in front of her. In the three years since the Charmed ones had vanquished the ultimate power, the Halliwells had been making up for lost time by entertaining regularly.

Moving among the crowd, Paige mingled with the guests at her Jack-and-Jill baby shower. Like Paige, the party was unique, and Piper and Phoebe had planned it less like a stuffy family affair and more like a good party. Friends from college that Paige had recently come into contact with were there, as well as cousins from her adopted family's side.

Other police from the SFPD were there and there was more than enough male companionship for Leo, Henry and Coop to survive the event, and Daryl and Sheila had made the trip from San Diego where Daryl had transferred two years ago.

All in all, it was a good time and the manor relived its previous glory days.

* * *

><p>Duncan stared, completely entranced by the portrait. He knew this…everything about this piece was familiar. It was like he was transported to another life, and he felt everything the painting was supposed to evoke.<p>

Peace. He felt like nothing had ever touched his soul except for love; warmth of the bright white light shielding him from any cold lingering out there in the physical world, where he had departed for eternity with her.

Her…a raven haired figure; a face obscured by the angle of her embrace with a man. In each photo, the blinding white light or her long ebony hair hid her face. "As if she doesn't want to be seen," Duncan muttered.

"What'd you say, buddy?"

Duncan turned to Richie. "This artist…are you sure no one knows anything about her?"

"I've talked to the gallery owner and he told me that he never even sees the artist. The packages arrive by courier and he pays the same way."

"So we need to find this courier," Mac told his friend. "Follow him back to the source and find out who this person is."

"Why are you so interested," Richie asked.

"Because this is what Methos meant for me to find."

"But these paintings are new," Richie said dumbfounded. "How could they mean anything to you?"

"Because _she_ does," Duncan said looking back at the figure of a woman. "Whoever she is, I know her from somewhere."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: PLEASE...Read and Review! I would like your feedback and to know that people are actually reading this.

* * *

><p>Blond hair swung from side to side as the petite, young witch ran down the alley full force.<p>

This was the closest she had come to catching up with the older woman in months. The killings still occurred, but had slowly begun to decrease and the public was slowly learning not to live in fear but cautiously watch their surroundings. Officials were still clueless and the press kept releasing tidbits on what had been discovered.

So far, it looked as if the killings were related to black market antiquity dealings. The police and FBI were working hand in hand –as much as they cared to, anyway—to track down the serial killer. Several antique shops had been investigated but as of yet nothing had been discovered in connection with the killings.

The sisters continued to research and track the murders for Billy, leaving the legwork to the younger woman since Paige was almost eight months along and Piper was about six and a half months pregnant.

Turning a corner, Billy ran straight into a wall and fell to her feet. She had done tones of legwork in this area and knew for a fact there should not be a wall there. So when said wall suddenly grabbed her, shaking her out of her self-involved thoughts, Billy was surprised to see a stunningly gorgeous—and tall—man holding her up.

* * *

><p>"Sisters!" Billy barged into the Manor, ignoring the men she left trailing behind her.<p>

The Halliwell Manor was a work of art to them as they looked at all of the antiques left behind from earlier generations. Photos from the early 1900s adorned the walls as they made their way up the stairs to the attic.

Piper and Paige were taking turns yelling and slapping Phoebe, who made the mistake of suggesting that they schedule joint c-sections. Because of the problems with Piper's last delivery and Paige's twin girls being big as well as multiples, their doctors had told them that c-sections were the safest option for delivering safe babies.

"What's going on in here," Billy demanded and broke the sisters' concentration; also completely forgetting the two strangers standing behind her.

"Uh, who are your friends Miss Billy," Piper asked and rubbed her belly.

"Oh, I finally caught a lead on our mystery woman," Billy said perking up. "I ran into them when I was following her but she got away. Piper, Paige, Phoebe, meet Duncan MacLeod and Richie," Billy said smacking the young man in his chest.

"And you brought them here _because_…" Paige waited for her charge to complete the missing information.

"Oh, uh well Duncan and Richie own antiques shops here in California and over in Europe and have connections with some very prestigious ones in New York and all around the country."

"So you brought antique dealers to the _Manor_?" Piper stared at Billy, as if trying to project her meaning telepathically as it seemed Billy was missing the meaning.

"We're more than just antique dealers," Duncan said, and the three Halliwell sisters were lured in by his brogue.

Phoebe, ever intrigued and always curious was the first to ask, "Then what are you?"

"We're Immortals," Richie answered and glanced sideways at the cute blond who had run straight into Mac's arms. That seemed to be the other man's shtick, and not for the first time –but definitely the most prominent—he found himself jealous.

"Hold up," Paige said. "Immortals," she drawled.

"_Witches_," Duncan rebutted.

"And this is related to our mystery woman _how_," Phoebe asked. "She's a witch, right?"

"Everything we've investigated indicates that the woman you are looking for is an immortal," Duncan said.

Stepping up from her perch on the table, Billy stepped in and explained. "Immortals share some kind of common genetic mutation. If it's not triggered, the person will live a normal human life."

"And how would one's immortality be triggered," Piper asked.

"A violent, tragic death," Duncan responded. "All immortals started this stage of our lives by ending their mortal ones."

"Just out of curiosity, how old _are_ you?" Paige stood from her chair and walked around to face the two men.

"Well, I'm only in my thirties," Richie said. "I was only a baby, really, when I died. I've spent the last ten years building a life for myself here."

"And Mac is over four hundred years old," Billy added, unaware of Richie's face dropping.

"Four hundred?" Piper was flabbergasted.

"That's not the crazy part that makes these murders make sense," Billy said in her normal round about style. "Immortals believe that they exist to live in competition; they play the game."

"The game is basically a chase. Most of us believe the motto that there can be only one," Duncan said, looking around the attic at the family mementos he would love to put in his collection. Turning, he stared at the three sisters.

"Immortals can only be killed if their head is taken, resulting in the Quickening. When you kill another Immortal, it results in a transfer of power. It is intense, and it increases your strength exponentially. Whoever is the last one standing wins the prize, ultimate knowledge; power."

"So this woman; this _immortal_," Piper drew out, "is going after other immortals to win this game? And what, you want to get to her before she gets to you?"

"Some of us stay out of the game," Richie explained. "We just want to keep the peace and live our lives. What we think, is that other immortals are going after this woman because she must be very powerful. Those of us who have come near her and have avoided confrontation haven't had any kind of negative experience with her."

"The only thing we don't know is why this woman is garnering so much attention by our kind," Duncan said. "She seems to have come out of nowhere, so she must be a fairly new one."

"And how did you two find your way to Billy," Phoebe butted in.

"Well, we're in antiquities," Richie reiterated. "But we're always looking for things to put in our galleries. Investment pieces for the future," he told them. "I bought this piece from a new artist who is completely guarded and unknown. No one knows who she is."

"They were tracking her down through a courier," Billy interrupted. "They managed to find her at the same time as I did and we got in each other's way and she disappeared. We think this artist is their immortal."

"Okay," Paige said, "but how was she able to push you back through your projection?"

"Do immortals _typically_ have supernatural powers," Phoebe asked.

"Some of us were men of faith in our mortal lives," Mac said. "Monks, Sorcerers, etc. It is possible to wield that kind of religious or spiritual power on in the next life but I've never heard of anyone being able to project another person through time and space."

"Hold on a minute," Paige said holding her belly. "Sorcerers…other human beings with _magical_ abilities, can also be born with the gene to become an immortal," the youngest sister said mostly to herself. "So it _is_ possible that a witch could die and become an immortal?"

"That would mean that we were still right about our mystery woman," Piper said following her sister's train of thought, "which means we have a place to start looking. We need to look for witches who have died recently."

"Are we really sure it's a witch," Phoebe asked. "Could a good witch really kill these people like this? I mean, they're not demons. They're people. Even if they are attempting to murder her, isn't there another way for her to avoid being killed without killing them?"

"Get real, Phoebs. A supernatural being comes at you with a sword and you _what_? _Transport_ out, that way they can _stalk you_ all over again," Paige said sarcastically.

"One of her portraits is entitled 'Muirn Beatha Dan'. It means a witches soul mate," Duncan explained.

"So what are we thinking," Billy asked. "She's a good witch who violently aborted me because she was trying to protect me or she's a wicked bitch who we need to take care of?"

"We don't want any harm to come to her unless it's necessary. We like to add to our group of friends," Richie told the sisters. "Allies we depend on when we encounter other immortals still playing the game, and it increases our ranks. We want to live peacefully as a community."

"Okay," Piper said. "We're looking for a witch who died a violent death –_not_ like most of us don't or anything," the eldest muttered. "We have a slight physical description of a petite woman with black hair and she must be one powerful witch. Paige, can you go to the elders and ask them about recent deaths. If she's as powerful as we think then she didn't go down quietly. It must have been a very powerful demon she went up against."

"Demons," Richie questioned.

"Uh, like supernatural monsters from hell," Billy rambled. "Here, why don't you look through the Book of Shadows. Not exactly light reading but it will give you an idea of what we usually go up against."

"Plus, it might be awhile before I find anything out," Paige said. "It'll help keep you occupied," and before anyone explained to Duncan or Richie, Paige's body evaporated in luminescent points of swirling light, suspended in air as the hybrid made her way to the heavens.

"Do you guys eat? I'll make us lunch," Piper said, waddling as she exited the attic.

"Just when I thought our lives were becoming normal," Phoebe said and stood next to Duncan. "Anything you want to know in particular?"

The man was staring at family antiques; first edition novels, family journals and lore as well as jewelry. Reaching for a camera, Duncan turned to Phoebe. "I would love to have pieces like this for my shop. You're very lucky to have held onto these items. Most people don't know what they have before they throw it away."

"Well, family history is very important to us. Our Grams kept everything."

"You are the Charmed ones, aren't you?"

"So you've heard of us? Funny, there are no entries on immortals in our Book of Shadows."

"We don't usually make ourselves known to anyone else. It's how we've managed to survive, especially with the game. There are some, though, that we trust; lovers, who would keep our secret."

"How do you know about us?"

"I'm from Scotland. Magic was both condemned and praised there. Many came to the Americas to avoid religious persecution, and those who survived the witch trials here still communicated with our homeland. I never knew if the legends were true. I must admit, it's intriguing to meet your family."

"Well, something interesting is always going on in Halliwell Manor. If you want to go ahead and read through some of these, go ahead. It would be nice to know if there's anything in particular that should be safe guarded for future generations."

"Thank you."

"It's nothing," Phoebe smiled. "Billy, I'm gonna help Piper bring up that food. Keep our guests company, okay?"

The blond nodded and the older woman left to go find her sister.

Billy walked up to Richie. "What you looking at?"

Richie glanced at the young girl, peering over his shoulder. Inhaling, he noticed that she smelled of vanilla and sugar. "An entry on soul mates. I guess I never really thought that this stuff could be real."

"Yeah, but then again what would be the point in all this," Billy said philosophically, "if not to share this with someone else?"

Richie looked in her eyes. "I guess I just figured that once I became immortal that the possibility of spending forever with someone was gone. Always waiting for danger to come, it doesn't seem fair to put someone else at risk."

"Even if they can handle it," Billy expanded on his answer. "I know what you mean," she said and glanced down. "Then again, why would we be motivated to hold on to our lives if we have no one to share them with? I'm starting to believe that there is no escaping the bad, so why make it unbearable by denying yourself someone to love?"

"Yeah." Richie stared in her eyes, and suddenly he remembered something. "Is there a way to find out who our soul mates are?"

"There are probably spells," Billy answered. "Or we could make one. Why?"

"Duncan said the title of my painting meant a witch's soul mate. He's convinced that he knows her somehow. What if they're soul mates? Couldn't we use a spell to figure out who she is?"

Billy lit up with excitement and hugged Richie, who took what he could get and held her in his arm as she rocked them back and forth. "That is brilliant! I can't wait to tell the sisters," she said.

"Tell us what," Piper asked as she and Phoebe put trays down on the table.

"I think I know how to Id our mystery woman," she answered. "As long as Duncan doesn't mind, that is."

Mac looked back as he heard his name. Putting down the old fashioned camera he had felt drawn to, he made his way to the ladies. "If you know how to find her then I'm in. What do I have to do?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Pop_, the bulb flashed from the camera. Light blinded him, and before he knew it she was gone.

He remembered it well. The year was 1927, and Duncan had finally left Amanda and their life together. Duncan had decided to put his time as a carnie behind him, and he was dressed like any dapper young man would be. Soon enough, he had been discovered by the attention of a young Hollywood silent film star and had ended up in the glamorous world of Hollywood parties. That was why the witches' magic had brought him back here.

Mac looked around, his feet moving of their own accord. He knew where he was going, what he was about to do, but had no control over this visitation. Ducking behind a corner, he waited to catch a glimpse of her dress and tugged her hand until she crashed into him and he could push her into a closet.

Kissing her, he pressed her against a wall and pressed kisses down her neck as she purred with enthusiasm. "You little minx," Duncan whispered in his Scottish brogue. "Did ye really think ye could run from me?"

"The best part about running is being caught," she told him. "Meet me at my hotel room, after the party," she begged as he ran his hands over her body.

"What do I get for waiting until then?"

She grabbed his chin and forced him to look into her smoldering eyes. Duncan had forgotten how amazed he was that such deep blue eyes could burn like fire; bright blue flames, the hottest kind possible.

"You get to learn my name," she said and kissed him passionately before pushing past him and exiting the closet.

Duncan woke with a gasp, reaching for Richie who had stayed by his side.

The sisters had placed large pillows on the floor, and he had lied down as they recited their spell. Now, his friend patted him on the back and told him that he was safe.

"Did you find out who she is," Billy asked. Sitting on the ground next to Richie, she tried to edge forward to get a look at the Scotsman.

"Yes and no."

"What the hell does that mean," Piper demanded.

"It means," Duncan paused, "that I saw her. The only problem is that I never had the chance to learn her name."

"How exactly did you know this person," Paige asked.

"We met back in the 1920s. 1927 to be exact. She was a photographer and very well known. I thought when she didn't meet me that I could find her. It turns out that she was using a false name. Nothing could trace her and I never did find out what happened. Why she never showed for our meeting."

"What was the name that she gave you," Phoebe asked.

"I only knew her by Persephone. When we met, she told me that she had just finished the half of her year she was obligated to spend in hell. I told her that must be true, because being together was pure heaven for me."

"And you never learned what happened to her," Phoebe wondered. "Why she never met you that last time?"

"We had been together for six months. I knew why she left. She was going back to hell, where she belonged," Duncan said, suddenly angry and wishing that these memories had never been awakened. Standing, he stormed out of the attic leaving five very confused people.

* * *

><p>Duncan stood in the backyard. The memories from that time had assaulted him; never had he thought that he would be forced to deal with his feelings for that heart wrenching bitch that had broken his heart.<p>

Normally, he would never say or do anything to disrespect a woman but the pain still burned in the depths of his soul. He was still fuming when he realized he wasn't alone.

"Are you okay," Piper asked. She was rubbing her belly, and Duncan softened. It would be the one thing he could never have; a family. A life with a woman he loved and their children. He was cursing himself mentally when Piper caught his gaze.

"I know what its like," she told him. "Loving someone you hate almost as much. The thing is, when you love them _that_ much it just makes the anger you feel that much stronger; much more pointless. Because you still want them. You still want her, don't you?"

"I've loved other women," Mac told her, "before and after. I thought I had moved on; that she didn't mean anything to me. All it took was one memory for me to want to be near her again; to make me forget all those women who actually wanted to be with me forever."

Piper brushed her hair behind her ears, and rested her hands on her belly. "How do you know that she didn't want that too? I mean, this immortal obviously still cares for you if she's devoting her spare time to dedicating portraits to you. You must mean something to her."

"Why now," he nearly cried. "It's been over eighty years!"

Piper looked at him, her eyes suddenly filling with awareness. Rushing back into the house, Piper ran –as much as a pregnant woman could—up the stairs with Mac on her heels.

"Piper, what's wrong," Phoebe asked.

"We cast the wrong spell," Piper said. "Why are we focusing on a past life when we know that this woman is a fairly new immortal? We should be writing a spell to learn who she was in her last life, right before she was turned."

"Can you do that," Richie asked. "Write a completely new spell?"

"We can do anything," Billy replied. "We're witches."

* * *

><p>"So how should we focus this spell," Phoebe asked. "We don't know anything about her other than she's Duncan's soul mate."<p>

"That's how. We focus on him," Paige offered. She had returned from meeting with the Elders with no leads. Apparently witches were a lot safer in the years following their ultimate battle, seeing as the Triad had been eradicated. "If the only connection we have is through him, then he should be the focus of the spell."

"Still, it would be easier if we had something of hers," Phoebe said. "A personal item that she was attached to that we could use in the spell to figure out her identity."

"Yeah, well he seemed kind of bitter," Billy butted in. "What are the chances he kept something of hers?"

"Actually," Piper said, "who here hasn't kept a memento from past relationships?"

It was a week after the scene at the Manor and the girls were still figuring out how to write the spell the figure out who their mystery woman is. Duncan and Richie were working with them to figure out how to track her down in the mean time, following new leads with the help of Henry and Darryl.

Piper and Duncan had formed a friendship in that time. Maybe it was because they were like two sides of the same coin. Both knew what it was like to lose the one person that meant the world to them because of what they were. Piper at least had been able to get her soul mate back.

She knew that as much as he had claimed to have let "Persephone" go, he would have held onto the last connection he had to her. It would have been too painful to ever really let her go.

Piper, Mac and Leo had been spending a lot of time together in the past week. It didn't hurt that Leo had spent a considerable amount of time being, well…dead. It was a bond the two men shared and the time they had in common gave them lots of things to talk about.

Heading down the stairs of the Manor, Piper made her way to the back door and headed for the garage. Leo and Mac were restoring a vintage Ford truck Leo had bought years ago before the ultimate battle. It was nice to see someone messy with oil all over them rather than potion ingredients. It was a good change.

"Hi, boys. How's it going?"

"Good," Leo said and used a rag to wipe his hands. "I think the truck is finally in mint condition. Want to go for a ride later and test it out?"

"Sounds like a date," Piper smiled at her husband. "But until then, I was kind of hoping to steal Duncan from you."

"Well, I think we're all finished here," Mac said. "What can I help you with?"

"Is there any chance you might have something that belonged to our mystery woman?"

Duncan's face soured at the mention of his old lover. "I might have something. It would be in storage for my antique shop. I never could bring myself to sell it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we were brain storming strategies for figuring out her identity," Piper said, "and we think if we use something that belonged to her in a past life we might be able to figure out who she was in her most recent life. Souls tend to stick together; born back into their family lines with other soul mates like siblings and friends from one life to the next."

"It makes sense," Leo said as he put the tools away. "How far is it to your storage unit?"

"A couple of hours away. If we go now, we could be there and back by dinner," Mac told them.

"I guess we're going on a road trip," Piper said.

* * *

><p>The metal door to the storage unit lifted, letting in light and displacing the dust that had built up since the last time Duncan had been there. There was a large lot of antiques and it brought Piper back to the days when she would visit Prue at Buckland's. That was almost eight years ago.<p>

Walking around, she admired jewelry and perfume decanters as Leo looked over old school medical equipment and baseball cards. Looking for the immortal, Piper followed him to the back of the unit. Mac was reaching up for an old shoebox. Wiping it, he blew dust off the top and removed the lid.

"We were together almost six months," he told her. "Silly thing about being immortal, it makes you think that you have all the time in the world. I didn't care that I didn't know her real name because I thought that I had forever to learn it. That I could enjoy our games for as long as they played out and that we would eventually settle down."

"Maybe you were right," Piper said, choosing to believe that there was a happy ending in all of this for her friend. Standing on tippy toes, she strained to get a look over his shoulder and look at the contents of the box. "Is all this hers?"

"After she disappeared I tried to find her," Mac whispered. "I took everything I could find. Everything that was left behind in her room at the boarding house; that she had given me during those months. She gave me this our first night together," he told Piper and held out his hand. It was a locket with intricate detail on the front. "She said it was a symbol of her heart and that I should wear it to know that it would always belong to me," Duncan laughed through his tears. "The funny thing is I could never get it open."

Piper turned it over and looked at the back. "There's an inscription. P.B. Do you think that they're her initials," she asked him.

"I did at the time. I went through every contact I could. No one knew any photographers with those initials. That was why I thought she was using a pseudonym for her work."

Piper continued to inspect the locket before running a finger over the latch, springing it to both her and Duncan's surprise.

"That's impossible," he said and moved closer to Piper as she opened to locket to peer inside. A cry escaped her lips and her hand immediately covered her mouth.

Leo walked up to his wife and looked at the picture inside the locket before looking at Duncan and then cradling his wife in his arms. "It's okay," he said, rubbing her back in circles as he tried to calm her down. "Shush," Leo rocked her back and forth. "We'll figure this out," he told her and just let her cry.


	6. Chapter 6

He circled her as he told her his plan. Really, she was the most magnificent woman and immortal he had ever come across which meant something considering how old he was. The others continued to come for her and she kept cutting them down as if they were nothing more than the smallest of pests.

Soon, though, they would have allies. He had sent for them even if they didn't know it yet. It was just a matter of time before the immortals who were after her would band together to take her out. Of course, that would mean they would all turn on each other just like those who play the game always would.

She, magnificent and powerful, would put an end to the game one way or another and he would be by her side. All that was left to wonder was who else would be on their side.

* * *

><p>Piper stormed the house, her face red and blotchy from her tears as she climbed the stairs.<p>

"Uh, Piper has skated straight from overly emotional and sad to pissed off," Leo warned the girls who had moved their meeting to the dining room where snacks were strewn across the table. "I'd be careful right now if I were you."

"Why? What happened," Paige asked.

* * *

><p>Duncan had taken a moment or two to just be outside and breathe. Staring at the manor, he took one last look away before deciding that he needed to stick this through 'til the end. He was tempted to just walk away and never come back. It was all too much for him.<p>

He hadn't asked to feel this way. Mac had turned off any of the remaining feelings for Persephone years ago, or at least he had buried them far enough where they weren't a constant reminder of his heartache and her betrayal. Duncan hadn't asked to feel this again.

Striding up the steps, he entered the manor and passed Leo and the sisters as he walked up to the attic.

"What do you know," he demanded and Piper looked up from an old book she had spread open on their ceremonial table.

"I need you to come here," the oldest surviving Halliwell told him.

"What is it," he asked. His voice was calm and strong as he forced his emotions back into the dark hole he had buried them in.

Crouching, he looked at what appeared to be a photo album and before he could help himself, Duncan was picking up an old picture. "How do you have this," he barked.

"The initials on the back of your locket," Piper began to tell him, "they stand for…"

* * *

><p>"Phoebe Bowen," Paige asked bewildered. "Isn't she one of our ancestors? I've seen that name before on the family tree."<p>

"That's impossible, Leo. This woman can't be the reincarnation of Phoebe Bowen," Phoebe said. "It has to be a mistake or someone who just looks like her. Piper is wrong," Phoebe said and before anyone could stop her she had grabbed her purse and ran out the doors.

"Why's it such a big deal if this chick is some relative or something," Billy asked.

"Because," Leo started, staring between Paige and Billy. "Phoebe Bowen's reincarnation was Prue."

Paige's face contorted in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Prue? Their sister," Billy asked. "But she died—"

"—eight years ago," Leo answered. "For an immortal that's pretty recent _and _she died a violent death which would have triggered the transformation."

"But why wouldn't she have come back," Billy asked, only sparing Paige's strange expression a passing glance. "Wouldn't she have come back to her sisters? I mean…ouch!" Billy tried to grab her arm away from Paige who had it in a vice grip and man, were her nails digging in!

"Paige?" Leo tried to get a hold on her. "Are you okay?"

"I think I'm in labor," she said.

"Ooh, ooh," Billy said. "We need to get Piper and Phoebe and someone has to call Henry!"

"Good idea. Why don't you go do that," Leo said. "I'm gonna try and get her upstairs to the guest room," he said and began to walk her upstairs when they disappeared in swirling particles of light. "You're right, that was quicker," he said when they appeared in the room.

"Leo, this is happening really fast and it hurts," Paige grunted. "Go get my sisters," she began to yell and Leo ran for the attic.

* * *

><p>Phoebe found herself in the only place that felt free of betrayal and heartache. Ironic, since this was the reason for everything that happened in her life.<p>

The lake had been where her childhood had been changed forever and where her mother had been killed when she was barely three. Sitting at the picnic table, Phoebe stared out at the calm body of water knowing that it was free of the poison that had once inhabited it.

She and her sisters had fought against that poison, a demon that was responsible for their mother's death. Phoebe had thought that had meant something to her bond with Prue and Piper. They had avenged their mom's death together.

Now she was back at square one, right where she was when they had first discovered they were witches. The screw up of the family with tenuous ties to the only people she had ever truly been able to rely on other than herself. How could Prue be alive and not want to be with them; her?

Phoebe laid her head on the table and sobs began to wrack her body. Prue had been everything to her; a mother, sister, and eventually a friend. How could a mother not want to be with her child? How could Prue just get up and walk away?

* * *

><p>"Where the <em>hell <em>is Phoebe," Paige screamed and her entire body tensed as another contraction came on.

Henry was sitting behind her in the bed, his body a giant pillow for her to lean into during the birth of their first children. He pulled her sweaty hair away from her face and gave her his hand to squeeze as she breathed through the pain. Daylight had disappeared as the heavens seemed to open at the very first screams of Paige's labor and were now pouring down on San Francisco.

Leo, Coop, Duncan and Richie were downstairs while Piper got ready to deliver her youngest sister's twin daughters and Billy was there to assist her even as the sky rumbled with thunder and lightning.

"Coop said Phoebe was blocking him," Billy answered. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll come as soon as she check's her cell phone and sees that she has a million messages."

"Paige, I need you to concentrate. Everything with Prue and Phoebe will still be there after we deliver your daughters, okay? Right now we have to worry about Payton and Priscilla. Can you do that?"

Paige glared at her before pushing through another contraction. Henry winced in pain as he felt his hand being ground into dust. "If she misses this," Paige heaved, "I will never forgive her!"

Piper spared Billy a glance. "Go see if you can find my sister before I have to worry about our other sister killing her."

"Sure thing," Billy said and through a vial at her feet.

Paige relaxed into her husband as the pain subsided. "I might have to vanquish her for this."

"But then Payton won't have a godmother," he told his wife.

"We could upgrade Billy," Piper suggested.

"Oh _God,_" Paige said. "Someone please find her!"

* * *

><p>Phoebe ran up the stairs, followed by Billy. "What'd I miss," she asked and right before her eyes Piper delivered a beautiful baby girl. Cleaning her, Piper swaddled her in a blanket and handed her to Paige.<p>

Paige kissed her head before her sister took the baby away and placed her in a basinet. She wasn't expecting it when the next contraction hit her and Paige remembered that there was another one waiting to be born.

Phoebe moved around to Paige's other side and grabbed her hand. "I am so, so sorry that I almost missed this."

"Better late than never," Paige said and tensed as she began to push.

"Come on, Paige! One really good push," Piper told her. "One really good push and you'll be done."

Two minutes later Piper delivered the second twin and handed her over to Billy to clean and clothe. Washing her hands, Piper picked up the first baby and handed her over to her sister as Billy handed the other baby to Henry.

"So…what are their names," Phoebe asked.

"Well, this little one is Priscilla Evelyn Mitchell and the other little beauty is—"

"—Payton Mackenzie Mitchell," Henry announced.

"Those are beautiful names," Phoebe said.

"Alright," Piper said. "I think it's time to let the new parents get some rest. I'll come back in an hour or so with dinner."

"Thanks," Paige said unable to tear her gaze away from the babies.

Ushering them out, Piper left after Phoebe and Billy and went to head for the kitchen when Phoebe grabbed her arm.

"What is it?"

"We need to talk about Prue," Phoebe told her. "And about what we're going to do."

"We are going to wait for the morning," Piper said and glared at Phoebe when she tried to argue. "Right now, we owe it to our goddaughters to celebrate their lives. We can figure everything else out later," she said and headed down the stairs.

Phoebe glanced at the flight that led up to the attic and pondered only a minute before she climbed them, just as she had eight years earlier on another stormy night.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that it's time," Prue asked him.<p>

She had longed for this day for eight years now; always waiting and praying that she could cling to that part of her life, where she had known safety and love with her sisters.

Prue had spent the last eight years training with him and growing stronger. She was a fast and strong opponent who moved with grace and ease. It was why she had survived for so long with all of the attacks. And let's face it; the quickening was the most soul wrenching, cosmic, life affirming experience one could ever go through.

The power afterwards was invigorating and addictive. Every time she took a head off an assailant Prue learned more about the world. Sure, she could identify any object back to the most ancient of societies and she was educated in history and cultural groups, etc etc. Knowledge had always been one of her true loves and she thirsted for it like someone who was lost in a desert. Now, she gained knowledge each time she took down one of her attackers.

Yet she still wanted only one thing. Prue wanted to go home. Normal immortals would have had been forced to leave their old lives, come up with new identities and start over again. Well, Prue was far from normal and that seemed to be the problem. Because Prue knew that if she returned now than the same thing would happen that she had been afraid of when she died the first time. Her sisters would fight to keep her and then they wouldn't be safe.

How could she do that to them? Piper had two successful businesses to run as well as two beautiful sons and a mortal husband to protect and Phoebe…well, Phoebe had recently been married. Paige didn't know her but Prue had checked up on her since she had reconstituted the power of three. Now she would have two newborns to care for. It wasn't right, Prue thought, to do this to them now that they had reached their happily ever after. No matter what it meant for her.

Still, if there was one thing about Prue that would never change, it was the fact that she would always be there for her family when they needed her. Gathering the items in her hand, Prue disappeared through ripples in the air and when she took form again she was in the guest room where Paige and Henry were sleeping.

Quiet so not to wake them up, Prue picked up one of her nieces and wrapped her in a silk baby blanket with the triquetra on it before kissing her head and picking up the other baby to do the same. Once both were in their basinets Prue left two matching pendants in jewelry boxes on the dresser with a note that read 'For the twins. Love, their favorite Aunt.' And then she disappeared.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: so please don't take offense to historical inaccuracies in this chapter for any of you history buffs. I did take real events and people to further my own story and yes I twisted them to make it interesting so I do hope that that worked to my advantage. The next few chapters will finally relate back to the original premise of this story...two souls; Prue and Duncan, have constantly avoided their happily ever after and this is their last chance to get it right. I wanted to redirect the story back to that, as I tend to overly complicate stories I originally set out to make simple. So you will finally be learning how they've managed to ruin every opportunity that they've had/how fate screwed them over. Please read and review.

* * *

><p>"To live is to love and hurt and find hope in all our primal pain,<p>

And trust that someday we shall find our way.

The future writes this as plain as day; on a tablet of brass the ultimate plan is engraved.

Our souls embark on countless journeys, entwined together throughout time

To learn from the past so speaks this rhyme."

* * *

><p>Just as Prue returned to her body there was a sudden pain in her chest as the breath left her body, gasping from the excruciating feeling of an invisible knife tearing through her soul. Collapsing, her mind lifted away from her corporeal manifestation as something else took hold.<p>

* * *

><p>Duncan inhaled a breath as he was forcibly woken from his slumber, his back arching and fists clenching the bed sheets as he fought to stay in control of his consciousness. He clung to the chill of the night air on his naked chest until he could no longer fight the magic that took control of him.<p>

* * *

><p><em>She moved with grace as the young priestess hastened to the Vestal fire her fellow priestess was guarding. Her gown flowed around her as she fled the darkness and entered the light of the fire. <em>

"_Sister, I beg your pardon for disturbing your Holy duties," Pinaria spoke. "I've had a vision and must pray to the Goddess. Please, allow me to give you leave and bear your burden tonight." _

_Aemillia rose from the floor, where she kneeled in servitude to their Goddess. "Sister, do you not wish me to remain with you in prayer? If it is truly a dire matter then allow me to stay with you so that the Goddess may hear your words in greater volume." _

"_Thank you but I must pray in solitude. Go now," Pinaria said and led her fellow priestess to the chamber's entrance. "I shall keep the embers of our Goddess's fire burning brightly over Vesta and protect Rome." _

_Aemillia nodded and took a candle to guide her back to the rooms where she and the other Vestal virgins laid their heads to rest. _

_Pinaria kneeled, and removed the hood of her cape, revealing jet black hair that curled in glossy locks upon her shoulders and an alabaster complexion that set her apart from the other three priestesses of her class. _

_Chosen at the age of six to live her life in servitude to Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth and Home, Pinaria had been raised by the previous class of Vestal Virgins who had served before her. Eleven years later, Pinaria was still enslaved in the house of the Vestal virgins and to the virtues she was ordered to protect. _

_Pinaria had come to realize the true purpose of the order of the Vestal virgins; to one day end their allegiance to the Goddess so that they may go on to wed the Emperor of Rome or be promised to one of his noble politicians. Pawns in political schemes from the moment they were chosen as children by old men who would lock them away in order to protect their virtues for mans' own use. _

_Most of the priestesses chose to stay and protect the eternal flame, while those coveted enough were made slaves by marriage to men who only wanted them for their beauty. Of course, the noble families had to wait for a vestal virgin to end her mandatory term of servitude; thirty years of education, practice and eventually teaching the next order. Pinaria was the exception. _

_Exceptionally beautiful, the Emperor decided he wouldn't wait to make her his queen. He sought to punish her for crimes she hadn't committed so that he could remove her from the house of the virgins and only grant redemption by forcing her to marry him. Pinaria couldn't allow that. _

"_As breath fills my body to give me life, so I expel my breath and life to keep your sacred fire's embers burning brightly in protection of our great empire. Goddess, I sacrifice myself in your servitude. I raise up my prayer so that you may guide me as you wish. Move through me." _

_Pinaria leaned over the breathe into the fire, the chill of the night could be seen on her breath. She did not expect to see the ancient fire extinguish in the blink of an eye. Suddenly the chamber became both dark and cold, leaving Pinaria to reach for her cloak. _

"_Pray, don't do that on my account," a voice called out, deep and foreign; unheard by her ears before that very moment. _

_Turning, the girl struggled to make out his form and was confused by the Goddess's response to her prayers. "Who are you that dare enter the Holy temple of the Vestal Virgins? None but the priestesses that vow to protect their virtues may enter the chamber of the sacred fire of Vesta, Goddess of Hearth and Home," her voice sliced through the chill to cut down the intruder by power of shame. _

"_My name is not important," he said, edging toward her. "My purpose is. You, my dear virgin, must come with me and flee from Rome or you will meet the fate you have just prayed to avoid." _

_Coming toward her, Pinaria noticed just how tall he was as he towered over her. Something stirred in her, as for the first time in her life she took notice of a man's beauty portraying her oath to remain virtuous. _

"_How do you know of my fate and why are you so intent on helping me avoid it?"_

"_Tarquinnius, fifth King of Rome assumed power by usurping the throne. He was meant to watch over my brother and I until one of us was old enough to rule over Rome." _

"_So you would help me out of vengeance? You would betray your religious duties and commit such an act because you feel you've been wronged?"_

"_I will do it, because I don't wish to see a natural born son of Tarquinnius rule over the Roman Empire. As long as you do not bear his son there is hope for Rome to be ruled by a truly pious man," the stranger bit off. "If you wish to avoid that as well then we must be leaving quickly."_

"_I cannot avoid this fate if I remain in Rome," she yelled at him in a panic. "He will search for me and then I shall be punished for incestum as well as for treason." _

"_Not if you're no longer in Rome," the handsome stranger told her. "Rome is at war with the Latins. If you leave with me tonight than I can smuggle you into Latin territories before finding a permanent location for you but we must go now," he declared. _

_Pinaria was torn. She had been pledged to the Order of Vesta since she was only six years old. It was her home and the priestesses her family. Finally making up her mind, she agreed to leave with him, "but I must get Aemillia first. If I leave here without rekindling the fire then she will be punished for leaving her post. Let me go to her now and I will be back soon." _

_Returning with the other girl, she hugged her old friend goodbye and left with the strange man for Latin land. _

* * *

><p><em>It had been two years since she fled Rome with the man she had come to know as Marcius. Alone and without family, he had no choice but to vow to stay with her and have her as his own in order to protect her from the foreigners they had gone to live among. <em>

_In that time, Pinaria had found that love for Marcius had replace the love she held in her heart for the Order of Vesta. They had built a home and soon she had given him a son. It hadn't been as hard as she thought it would be to adjust to life outside of the Holy temple of Vesta, and Pinaria had accepted this place and these people as her home. _

_As it often is in these scenarios, at the very moment when Pinaria and Marcius felt content and joyful in their new lives, tragedy struck. Rome conquered the Latins, and as they plundered the territories they occupied, Romans entered their house and Marcius was slain; believed to have conspired with his brother to kill the king and Pinaria was arrested and returned to Rome where she was put to the death. _

* * *

><p>A hand was clutched at her heart as she struggled to breathe in. Prue had collapsed to the floor and she pushed herself up even as she found it hard to control inhaling and exhaling.<p>

Eight years had given her a long time to study her craft, as well as for her powers to advance. The eldest, her powers were still beyond the levels that her sisters' had developed, and still the magic that had taken her tonight was the strongest she had ever felt.

She knew what had happened. Prue had been taken back to where it had all begun; her first life. Ever since she had been turned the witch had begun to have visions and dreams of past lives that seemed to be trying to get a message to her. But those visions had been quick little snap shots and she hadn't been able to make anything of it.

This was something else completely; a memory that was released in its totality rather than some random little snippet that left her eager and jumpy, and on edge. And Prue Halliwell was not the type to be left on edge. So it all begged the same question; what were her past lives trying to tell her?

* * *

><p>Duncan walked over to his nightstand and tugged on a shirt before he walked out to the porch and sat down on the balcony rail. Looking up at the stars, he wondered what it was the fates were trying to tell him; to guide him to.<p>

He didn't care that the sky was pouring down on him or that lightning was ravaging the heavens. Duncan only knew that it felt extremely similar to when _she_ had abandoned him.

* * *

><p>Phoebe stood at the book and closed it, studying the symbol on the cover as she remained in the dark, cold attic as the storm continued to rage.<p>

When she had come up here it had been to find answers and alleviate her anger, but when she went to look up the summoning spell to question her mother and grams the book had opened up to a spell she had never before seen in the book.

Now she was left wondering what the outcome was, but Phoebe realized that the situation would be there tomorrow for her and her sisters to handle together.


	8. Chapter 8

The rain continued to fall on him like tiny little blades as the cold tore through the immortals body. Duncan was finally starting to relax and it had already been an hour since he had "returned" from whatever spiritual experience had ripped him from this reality earlier.

The tall, guarded man had finally found his breathing and the shock was wearing off. Clearing his mind, he concentrated on the world around him and grounding himself to the natural elements around him. Somehow, someway, focusing on the physical kept him there in the moment. Strong. Duncan had a feeling that he was going to need some strength if he were going to have to get used to scenes like the one that had just unfolded.

* * *

><p>"<em>Why haven't you found me yet," the aberration cried. "Find me, my Prince," the raven haired beauty asked the man, tall and fair with hair as white as the purest light. <em>

"_I search," he yelled out to her but he couldn't see her through the fog and mist of the forest. "Every day since and every day forward I search for you," he called out, his breathing ragged as he tried to follow the sound of her voice. _

"_My Prince," she seemed to whisper in his ear and for a moment he felt her so near to him but in an instant –the briefest of moments that it took him to turn in hopes of having her in his embrace again—she was gone. _

_Turning and twisting, he began to run and call out for her, "Sa—"_

* * *

><p>Her cup of tea fell from her hands as the vision pulled at her. Prue couldn't describe how it felt other than that it was like her soul was being ripped through her body.<p>

Prue was a smart woman. She realized that her death had traded one life of dangers for another, and while she continued to practice and maintain her craft a certain part of her had never expected to be pulled by magic like this ever again.

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and Prue had been unable to sleep after her experience earlier. Now it seemed as if she would remain sleepless for the foreseeable future. There was no way to predict how long the visions and this magic would last, or what she would have to learn before she was given any piece.

Getting up, Prue walked through the dark of her house. Oddly, she felt safer hiding among the shadows than being exposed in the light. This had never been her nature before. Light illuminated all things and provided answers; knowledge. She used to crave the light. Now she was fearful of what she would find.

Lighting a single candle, Prue allowed only the smallest source of light guide her as she painted what she had just seen.

* * *

><p>"Hey kid," Richie yelled out as he ran to Billy. "Geesh, you move fast!"<p>

Billy laughed. "Sorry, I just got out of a final and I'm heading back to P3. What are you doing here?"

"I take some classes here. Keeps me in touch and, well sane. Besides, what's the point of having forever if I do nothing with it?"

Billy screwed up her face in a strange type of smile and nodded her understanding. "I guess. Well, are you done for the day 'cause if you want you can help me set up the bar for tonight. It's Friday night and every kid on campus will probably be there so Paige has everyone coming in early to set up and prep for the rush. We could use the help," she prodded.

"Sure," he grinned. "How is Paige, by the way?"

"Oh, you know her. Never stopping for a moment. The twins are only three days old and she's micromanaging everything from home and keeping all of us in shape. I don't know why she was so worried about being a mom. She's like wonder woman!"

"Well, from what I've seen of the Halliwell women it seems to be a family trait," Richie said as he walked Billy to student parking. "Speaking of Halliwell women," he steered the conversation, "what's all this about there being a fourth sister?"

"Ooh," Billy hesitated and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "See, Paige wasn't raised with Piper and Phoebe. She was given up for adoption because their mom was afraid that if anyone knew there were four daughters that they would all be denied their powers. Prue was the oldest and apparently she bore the brunt of everything."

Richie's face clenched and his forehead wrinkled. "How so?"

"Well, their mom died when Prue was only six or seven and their dad had already split. Their Grams raised them but she was especially tough on Prue. Demanding that she stay home and raise her little sisters and all that junk. She wouldn't even let Prue go away to college or study what she wanted; Prue _had _to study history/ fine arts. I guess their Grams was trying to prepare them for when they got their powers."

Reaching Billy's car, the two stood there for a few minutes talking. "What do you mean by _when _they got their powers? Weren't they born witches?"

"Well yeah, they were born witches," she explained, "but their mom and Grams bound them in order to keep them safe until they were old enough to protect themselves but the old witch died before she gave them their powers back and basically left them defenseless. They had to learn the craft themselves and it apparently wasn't an easy road."

"So what does this have to do with Mac? He's been moping around for three days now and I can't get him to do anything. He's acting really strange."

"Well, the artist that you guys were looking for who turned out to be our mystery woman…it's Prue. She was killed eight years ago protecting an innocent and her sisters. Apparently the gene for immortality must run in their family. The sister's are pow wowing at the manor to try and figure things out."

"That is quite the bombshell," he replied. "Maybe I can drop by and see if I can help you guys figure anything out, seeing as Duncan's probably gonna be out of commission for a few days."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Listen, you know how to get to the club, right? Otherwise, you can follow me there. It's only a four hour shift and we can go back to the manor after and see what they've figured out."

Richie smiled at her. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'll see you in a few minutes."

* * *

><p>The club was pumping and the band was awesome. It was exactly what she thought it would be when she had convinced Paige to book her favorite band, Jack's Mannequin. The lead singer, Andrew McMahon, was the front man for two bands and was wildly popular in Indie Rockpop circles. He was such an energetic performer and the crowd loved him.

The shift had changed and the new waitresses were coming in for the closing shift. Billy grabbed Richie who she had roped into bussing tables and they went to the employee quarters to change.

"So, how do you like Piper's club?"

"I thought it was Paige's?"

"Well, it's Piper's and she built it from the ground up but she brought her sister's on as partners. Now that she's opening the restaurant she hired Paige to be the acting manager but I guess it's really a family business."

They walked out to the parking lot and were off to the manor. When they got there the sisters were seated at the dining room table, the entirety of it covered with old books that were family biographies and keepsakes.

"What's going on guys?" Billy put her bag down on the floor by the stairs.

Paige had Priscilla in her arms and jiggled the fussy baby until she choked back her sobs and fell asleep. Payton was asleep in a portable crib that was set up in the foyer.

"We have been researching every possible family member in hopes of figuring out how it's possible that Prue was able to become an immortal. Apparently no one else in the family line ever turned and it seems unlikely that she should have inherited the genetic mutation."

Phoebe walked up behind them and handed Paige a cup of tea. "We have no idea where to look now," she added to her sister's answer. "We decided to take a small break for the mommy here and Piper is just finishing a late supper for us to eat."

"Um, guys," Richie said. "I don't mean to overstep any boundaries but I might know why you haven't found anything."

The three women looked at him, intrigued. "Well, what do you think it is," Phoebe asked.

"You've been looking at your family for answers which is good," Richie said, "but you made one tiny mistake."

"Oh," Paige murmured. "And what might that be?"

"You're only looking at one side of your family. The maternal side. What if the answer is on your father's side?"

All three scrunched up their face and as only women could with very close friends and family, they all turned their heads to the kitchen, scrunched up their noses and closed their eyes as they all called out in unison, "Piper!"

* * *

><p>"So, I just called dad," Piper told them. "He still doesn't know about Prue and I don't want to tell him until we find her. There's no reason to hurt him before we have to," she added. "He's gonna stop by tomorrow for lunch and to see the boys.<p>

"I still can't believe we never thought to look at your father's side of the family," Paige said in disbelief. "How could we overlook something like that?"

"Wait, you mean you guys don't have the same father," Richie asked.

"My father was our mother's whitelighter," Paige explained. "They got together after our mom and Victor divorced so I'm really only their half-sister."

"Don't say it like that," Phoebe told her. "You're as much my sister as Piper or…"

"Go ahead," Piper said when Phoebe hesitated. "She's as much our sister as Prue was and still is. No matter how mad we are at her right now."

"I just…I don't understand," Phoebe stopped as the tears began to spill and Paige wrapped an arm around her.

"You don't understand how she could leave you," Paige said for her, "and maybe you never will but you won't know for sure until we find her. I can't believe that there's no reason for what she did," the youngest continued. "Everything you've ever told me makes me absolutely certain that there was a reason for what she did, even if we don't think it's a good one."

"Yeah, well one way or another she's going to give us an explanation," Piper said and rubbed her belly.

* * *

><p>Duncan sat in the storage unit as he read through his old journals. He had kept them ever since he first turned. Before that he had no interest in chronicling his affairs because he was a boisterous young Scot with the rest of his life ahead of him. He had no idea at the time how right he was.<p>

It had been a week since the dreams or invasions had started and Mac still had no idea what they were or what they should be called. The sisters had tried reaching him and he knew Richie was becoming worried about his mentor. Still, Duncan couldn't bring himself to face the torment of his past love. Not yet.

He had hoped his journals would shed some light on what he was experiencing. Unfortunately they did not. Standing, he grabbed the box of journals and left the storage unit. Suddenly, he felt the familiar feeling of another immortal and he braced himself for the attack.

When the stranger grabbed his shoulder, Duncan turned and used his arm to separate himself from his attacker by breaking the embrace and was surprised at the face smiling back at him. "Connor?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Hi Dad," Piper smiled and hugged her father. Everyone had been waiting for the guest of honor to arrive and Piper made sure that none of them would pounce on him. After all, they had all day to ask him questions.

"Where are my newest granddaughters," he asked and turned to give Paige a hug.

In the past couple of years Victor had really stepped in as a strong male role in Paige's life, even though she had Henry and Sam was starting to come around more often. Still, since her mom and dad weren't here to see her girls, Victor had taken a very proactive part and Paige appreciated it.

Pointing to the travel crib, Paige only half whispered as she said, "I just got them down for a nap. I figured they'll sleep through lunch and then you can officially meet them when they're not cranky," the youngest joked.

"Well, they're beautiful. Poor Henry," he muttered.

"What do you mean Daddy?" Phoebe looked perplexed.

"I got to skip the whole teenage boy phase and I have it on good authority that Grams handled that like a champ, but he's gonna have to lock these two up in a tower; boys are gonna be beating down the door to get to them!"

"Oh, God," Piper drawled out. "Knowing our luck they will get stuck in some tower. Especially with the evil queen as their mother," she grinned at Paige.

"You know, I'm one third of the most powerful good witches in the world and have lived who knows how many lives as a good witch and you have one life as an evil witch and no one lets you forget it!"

"At least it wasn't two," Phoebe told her and thought about when she visited the past to find that she, Piper, and Prue had lived together before as cousins, and then to her marriage to Cole.

"Dad, you remember Billy," Piper said pointing to the blond. "That's Richie sitting next her. He's a new friend."

Victor turned to her and used the 'magic-related' tone, "friend?"

"Richie's an immortal," Phoebe told him. "He died in his early twenties and he's been helping us with some work."

"Well, nice to meet you," Victor said and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Richie replied.

"Um, lunch is just about ready. Why don't we all go sit at the table?" Piper guided her father to the table and everyone gathered together, interested in what they would find out.

* * *

><p>"Duncan, what are you doing?"<p>

The younger man avoided his friend's gaze and looked at the items he and Connor had come to look at for their collections. "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't act like some prissy little girl with her nose in the air and a stick up her ass," Connor told him. "I know something happened otherwise Richie wouldn't have called me."

"So Richie did call you," Duncan turned and faced his friend. "That's why you're here. Richie went crying to you and you decided to come play the hero and fix me. Well, I don't need fixing!"

Leaving the antique shop, Duncan put his sunglasses on and pushed through the crowd as he tried to lose himself. Of course, Connor followed him, until they reached Golden Gate Park. By that time Duncan had grown tired of distancing himself from his oldest friend and only family member.

Denying himself the opportunity to feel anything lately had robbed him of all his energy. Settling by the gardens, he continued to face away from his cousin as he allowed himself to speak.

"I was summoned here," the younger man began. "Methos was killed and I came to seek out his killer. He had found something that he said belonged to me once."

"What was it?"

Duncan turned to face his companion. "I didn't know at first. I reached out to Richie because I thought he might have heard rumors that could lead me to whatever Methos was involved in. It led me to something else entirely."

"And what exactly did you find," Connor asked.

"A woman," he answered. "Someone I loved for a short time and have hated ever since."

"Ah, so I see," Connor laughed. "And so it all comes down to the one who got away," he referred to Persephone.

Giving him a nasty glare, Duncan paced as he tried to focus on the beauty of the garden over their topic of conversation.

"I always knew you weren't over that girl," his cousin continued. "Of course you barely spoke of her so I knew you had to have had it bad," he laughed. Connor walked over to Duncan and gave him a slap on his back. "So what does Persephone have to do with Methos' murder?"

"He must have found her here, I'm not quite sure," Duncan told him. "I'm just trying to focus on finding his killer so I don't have to think of her."

Connor curbed his sense of humor and began to sympathize with Duncan. "Did you know she was immortal back then?"

"She wasn't," Mac said perplexing the other man.

"What do you mean? Was she changed later on?"

Duncan stared his friend in the eye for a moment as he tried to figure out what to say. "I need to bring you somewhere," he said after a moment.

* * *

><p>"I have to say," Victor spoke, "I'm pleasantly surprised that you're trying to learn about my side of the family. Obviously, the Halliwell side had a bigger part of your identity because of your destiny but it always felt like my role was as a second class citizen."<p>

"Well, Grams was very adamant about teaching us about our maternal side," Phoebe said.

"And after you left we didn't really have any contact with your side of the family," Piper added. "We just want to know more especially since we're all married and starting our own families."

"Well, my father passed away when I was in high school and my mother passed away a couple of years later. They never got to meet your mother," Victor told the girls. "I have an aunt from my father's side and an aunt and uncle from my mother's. Their kids are still in California and I talk to them every once in a while."

"Any cool family stories about ancestors," Paige asked as she rocked Priscilla back and forth. "You know, something fun we can tell the kids about."

The sisters still hadn't told him about Prue and they wanted concrete evidence that they had in fact inherited the mutated gene for immortality before they unleashed that information.

"Tons of stories," Victor told them. "Mostly made up I'm sure, but still, my father always said that we came from a long line of warriors. Well, like your mother's side, my family is of Scottish and English descent. In celtic mythology there was an army known as the Fianna and our ancestors were warriors in fierce battles."

"That's pretty cool," Henry said.

"Yeah, well my dad was a story teller. It's all myth," Victor told him. "My dad also told everyone that our ancestors had developed the ability to live forever. Something about the fae granting them immortality in order to win in battle against other nations."

Piper and Phoebe shared a look and Paige glanced up to look at her almost dad. They asked more questions about the fianna before sending the men out to the backyard with the boys to play ball for a little while.

"So it is possible that Prue inherited her immortality from dad," Phoebe said. "When are we going to tell him that Prue is up and walking around San Francisco?"

"When we know for sure where she is and what she's been doing for the better part of a decade," Piper said, clearing the table. "We need to find out more about dad's family and see if it comes back to Duncan at all if he and Prue are really soul mates."

"Do you think Duncan is really going to want to help us," Paige asked. "He's only been avoiding us ever since he found out that his lost love is alive and roaming around the city."

"He'll come around," Phoebe said. Turning to Piper she asked, "Right?"

* * *

><p>"It's Holy ground here, Duncan," Connor said. "Why are we here?"<p>

"As immortals we can sense each other," Mac spoke. "We can sense Holy ground too, apart of the game I suppose." Looking at Connor, he asked, "do you know why this is Holy ground?"

Connor paced back and forth for a moment. "There's no church here because we're in the middle of the woods, and this area doesn't have any ties to Native American reservations but it does seem to have a similar feel." Connor bent down and felt the grass, digging his fingers into the dirt. "Like nature itself is protecting this very spot."

"Piper brought me here," Mac said. "She's a friend I've recently made. She brought me here because she wanted me to understand the connection that binds her and her sisters. You may have heard of them; they're the Charmed Ones."

Connor turned sharply to stare at his clansmen. "You're kidding me," he choked. "That's myth!"

"Nay, 'tis the truth! Our paths crossed in our search for a mystery woman I believed knew something about Methos's murd-" Duncan stopped as he read the text message he just received. "We must go," he yelled at Connor and went to leave.

Connor grabbed him by his forearm. "What's going on, Duncan?"

"The gallery manager just told me that new portraits were delivered. The first series I saw clued me into the fact that we were once lovers. I think if I see her new work I might be able to learn more."

"Alright," he said. "Call Richie and tell him to meet us there."


	10. Chapter 10

When Connor and Duncan pulled up to the parking lot of the gallery Richie was waiting there for them."Hey, Mac," the kid said with a grin. "Did you like your play date with Connor?"

"Ouch," he said and put his hand to his head where Connor had just hit him. "What was that for?"

"That's for being a brat," Connor replied. "Now can we go see this new painting or do you want to go at it like a couple of obnoxious teenage girls?"

They walked the rest of the way in silence and were shocked at what they saw in the gallery. "You brought them!" Duncan was still avoiding the witches. It was too much to deal with, what with his startling dreams that felt more like memories. He didn't want to burden them with that and he also was trying to convince himself that there wasn't anything going on. Well, within reason.

The Halliwell sisters were there and so was Billy. Their husbands and children weren't in attendance. Piper saw him first and smiled. Walking to her friend, Piper hugged him. "We were so worried about you!"

"Ouch! What was that for?" Duncan was cupping the ear that Piper had just boxed.

"A _week_! One week of having to worry about you and whether or not you've done something stupid, like getting yourself killed. You couldn't pick up a phone?"

"He's an immortal," Connor said. "He's got a one up on Death," he told the witch he hadn't yet been introduced to.

"And who are you," Paige asked before her sister had the chance.

"Connor MacLeod of the clan MacLeod," he bowed and glanced up at the sisters with mischief in his eyes. "It's nice to meet you."

Connor kissed each of their hands and Duncan elbowed him in the ribs."They're all married," he told his cousin. "Shall we get this over with and go look at the painting?"

The group agreed and entered the gallery. It was an ethereal scene, with mood lighting that was soft and allowed little bursts of light just over the work. Like sunlight could break through a cracked door in one strong angular stream with dust floating like dandelion fluff, the lights seemed to draw people in. Wine and champagne were ushered around by waiters and soft music played in the background.

"These are truly beautiful," Connor told Duncan. "I understand what you meant earlier when you said you felt as if you belonged in the scene. It's almost hypnotizing or magical."

"This was the first painting I saw," Duncan said. "Let's go find the new one, eh?" The men looked for the newest portrait while the sisters took their time analyzing them. They had yet to actually see the paintings and it was an emotional time for them.

"Well," Piper said laying a hand on her belly, "Prue definitely made these. It reminds me of the art projects she showed in high school."

"I thought Prue was only into photography," Paige said.

"Don't start comparing yourself," Phoebe told her. "You're just as good as she is," she told her little sister and rubbed her shoulder. "You just have different styles."

"All of the women look like her," Piper half-whispered, "but each face is different in some small way. If you look at the clothes they're wearing they seem to be from different times." The sisters drifted towards different portraits and compared them. "Do you think that they're all past lives Prue lived?"

"And what? She's remembering them," Phoebe asked. "How would she know about them? We're only allowed glimpses at our pasts in order to learn from them."

"But somehow she knows," Paige interjected. "And we know that she still has magic. What if we can send her a message, like '_we know you're alive...please come home'?_"

"We still don't know why she's stayed away," Billy told the sisters. "What if she ignores the message? What would we do next?"

"All I know is that no one is going to be decapitating my sister," Piper said and wandered off to find the men.

* * *

><p>"This is it," Richie said.<p>

"It reminds me of Heather," Connor said wistfully.

The portrait was of a forest, where a tall and muscular man seemed to be running. In the background was a woman hiding behind a tree, and a deer running across the forest. "What the hell is the she-devil trying to tell me," Duncan said frustrated by not being able to figure it out. "I'm tired of it all," he went on. "I want it all to stop; the portraits, the dreams-"

"What dreams," he heard Piper ask from behind him.

* * *

><p>The group reconvened the next day with Piper preparing brunch for them all. Paige put the girls down for a nap in their pack and play and joined everyone in the sun room. Phoebe had brought down the Book of Shadows and other family heirlooms so that they could enjoy the nice weather instead of sitting up in the attic.<p>

The men had been standing around and Duncan had introduced Connor to Leo. It was interesting for them to think of Leo's life since it was so similar to their own. A traumatic death had been the beginning of his immortality; still, Leo was special. He had been giving the choice not only to become an immortal, but he had the choice to become human again. One thing that Duncan would always be envious of was the man's ability to father children.

Wyatt and Chris were keeping themselves busy playing with toys and Duncan wondered what it would have been like to father children of his own. Wyatt was a little timid at first but once he became familiar with the men was eager to talk to them while Chris paid attention to everything and had no problem talking to everyone. The boys seemed to get along; a similar bond to the one Duncan shared with Connor and Richie. He wondered how things would change when Piper's daughter arrived.

Everyone's attention turned to Piper as the last member joined them and they took their seats. "So, we all know why we're here," she began.

""Cause you're cooking for us," Paige said with a smart alec look and Henry nodded in the background.

"I think she's referring to your long lost sister," Coop told his sister-in law.

"Anyway," Piper drawled, "Duncan has been experiencing dreams that he didn't tell us about," she said pointedly. "Would you like to share?"

"I've been having dreams," Mac started, "of different times and different places. Different people," he said, "but I knew who it was supposed to be; me and her. We're speaking different languages and there's magic in everyone. The one that keeps coming back is one where we're in Scotland. I can hear hounds in the background, and I'm in the woods. She's calling to me to find her and then that's it. I wake up."

"She's calling to you to find her," Phoebe asked. "Clearly, that's exactly what we need to do. For all we know Prue is being held against her will, was there anything at all that might have given you a clue as to how to find her?"

"May I," Leo asked. The girls nodded and Leo hunched forward in his seat. "The past lives are the clue. This is more than needing to find Prue. Clearly, she and Duncan meant a lot to each other in their past lives. That's what we should be focusing on. When Phoebe and Paige had similar experiences it was to learn something."

"That we evolved," Phoebe interrupted him. "That we had the opportunity to change and grow."

"Maybe what we need to know in order to help Duncan and Prue, is what happened in their past lives," Leo continued.

"And how are we supposed to do that," Connor asked.

Paige groaned. "Does this mean I have to go up there," she said and glared at the ceiling."I'll be right back," Paige orbed.

"Well, while we wait for her we can get started on brunch," Piper said. "Phoebe, why don't you talk to Connor and Duncan about what Dad told us?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: thanks for the reviews! and to Mony19...all will be revealed! keep reading and reviewing

* * *

><p>Billy rocked Priscilla back and forth unable to soothe the wailing child. She had no idea when she agreed to watch Paige's twins that babysitting would be so hard. The young witch took for granted the fact that Wyatt and Chris had already been potty trained by the time she started watching them.<p>

Still, Paige and Henry deserved a night out. The girls were only four weeks old and everyone was still on edge about finding Prue. The sisters had been devoting their time to looking into their family history and the legends surrounding the Fianna. That and managing the club with raising two newborns had taken a toll on the new parents and what better way was there to recharge their batteries than by taking a night off.

Piper had sent over food earlier during the day and Billy couldn't wait to have some of it. Unfortunately she was otherwise engaged with the crying child. The doorbell rang and Billy made her way through the tiny apartment to answer it.

"You called," Richie said.

* * *

><p>"How did you do it," Billy asked in wonderment. "I tried everything and Priscilla didn't seem to care for any of it. How did you walk in and have sleeping in under five minutes?"<p>

"I was around a lot of kids when I was younger. Just something I picked up I guess," he told her and laughed at her bewildered expression. Laughing, he turned his head. "Honestly, I'm just glad that Payton seemed to have slept through her sister's tantrum."

"Uh, tell me about it! Maybe it's some kind of defense mechanism," she pondered. "I wish I had it. Are you hungry? Piper left us a chicken pot pie that she made earlier. I was thinking of having some. Do you want a piece?"

"Uh, yeah. That would be great," he said and followed her to the kitchenette, sitting at the counter. "I'm glad you called. Connor and Duncan are great but there a little—"

"Intense," Billy guessed. She pulled out a couple of plates from the cupboards and rummaged through the draws for utensils. "What's their story, anyway? I mean, I know that they've lived hundreds of years but they never told us how they died. Is it a sensitive subject?"

"Well, Duncan and Connor are cousins. Connor is about seventy some years older than Duncan. You see, they were born into the same clan; the clan MacLeod in the highlands of Scotland. They're distant cousins, and when Duncan died and was cast out Connor took him under his wings because the same thing had happened to him."

"That's so sad," Billy said. "But I guess it makes sense considering the times and what they believed about religion and science. Still, it must have been hard for them both, to never be able to go back home."

"Well, Connor has made the journey back a couple of times but yeah. His entire family turned away from him because they thought he was in league with the devil."

"It kind of makes sense, though," Billy said and dug her fork into the pot pie. "Think about it; Duncan and Prue are soul mates and both of their ancestries lead us back to the same country. Both sides of the Halliwell line have ties to Scotland."

"Yeah, but Leo said we should be focusing on their past lives and whatever unfinished business Prue and Duncan have with one another."

Billy nodded in agreement. "Sure, but isn't Scotland where it all began? I mean just think of everything we could learn if we just took a small field trip," the blond said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"_Small_ field trip," Richie said. "Am I right in assuming we would be traveling air Paige?"

"Is there a better way to travel?"

* * *

><p>"I want to talk to you about something," Billy told the sisters.<p>

"Should we be afraid," Phoebe asked. She was feeding Payton while Paige changed Priscilla's diaper.

"I think," she paused trying to phrase it the right way, "that it would be educational for us to take a small trip to where it all began in order to figure out what it might be that we need to learn about Duncan and Prue's past."

"Scotland," Piper said.

"It's not an entirely bad idea," Paige defended her charge.

"There has to be a better way," Phoebe told them. "I mean, if we go to Scotland chances are we hear exaggerated or water downed versions of stories from centuries ago. We should try to write a spell that will allow us to see things as they happened."

"Maybe Paige can ask the Elders about it," Piper said. "I mean, Leo said he was allowed to see his past lives when he became a whitelighter. Have they ever let you—Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, give your little brother his toy back! I'm sorry," she said after she turned her attention back to the women. "Have they ever let you see your past lives," Piper asked Paige.

"No, but then again I never went through a typical whitelighter training. It wouldn't hurt to ask, right? Maybe we can arrange to look at their history and give us a one up on this thing. The Elders have really been interested in our progress so they might be willing to do us a favor," the youngest sister said.

"So no Scotland," Billy asked and was met with three death stares. "Okay, then."

* * *

><p>"Hello, Prudence. How are you doing," he asked her.<p>

Turning to her mentor, Prue finally smiled for what seemed like the first time in weeks. "I can't seem to stop painting," she said and dipped her brush in water. "I've always been so passionate about my photography but I can't stop the dreams from coming."

"Let them come," he told the raven haired beauty. "You will soon find answers to every question you have ever had."

Prue wiped her hands with a hand towel. "Like why I had to die," she said morosely.

He embraced her and rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "All will be revealed. Have you been practicing your new power?"

"Yeah, I think I have it mastered," Prue told him. "Do you want to see?"

"I believe you, Prudence. If I've come to learn anything these previous eight years, it's to trust you."

"Yeah, well I hope you feel that way when the time comes to—"

"I will," he assured her. "There's a reason why it has to be you, Prudence," he gave her a grin even though she grimaced at the use of her full name. "Of everyone I've ever met during my lifetime, you're the most consistent and dependable."

"I just hope that I can keep them out of this," she said and walked back to her paints.

"Your sisters are almost as strong as you," he reminded her. "I'm sure that they could be helpful in this if you would only go to them."

"I can't do that," she said turning to face him. "After all I've done to keep them from harm's way and everything they've suffered through since my death they deserve to be happy," Prue exclaimed. "I've been strong for eight years; I can be stronger still until the time comes. If it ever does," she muttered under her breath.

"Then you will just have to find a way to reach the one you've been dreaming of. He, along with you, has been destined to defeat this evil."

"I can do it alone," she argued. Even after years of knowing that there was a connection to this unknown man, Prue was still extremely distrustful of him. Images of them making love stabbed at her gut. The oldest Halliwell couldn't remember what had happened between them but she knew that there was betrayal. It was holding her back, and she was just as determined to leave him out of this fight too.

Shaking his head, Prue's mentor laid a comforting hand on her shoulder before passing her to head for the exit. "You still surprise me, Prudence. I'm not sure if your ability to stand and bear the weight of the world is strength or weakness."

Prue watched him leave, pondering his comment as she tried to answer the question for herself.

* * *

><p>"It's been a while since Paige left to go up there," Phoebe said. "These little sweeties are missing their mama," she told Piper as she bounced Payton up and down.<p>

Piper was swaddling Priscilla in her pink blankie after her diaper change. Turning to look at her sister, she was interrupted in her speech by two brawling little boys. "Wyatt! Christopher! If you can't learn to share your toys then I'll have to give them to other little boys who will," she reprimanded them.

It had been difficult taking care of them ever since Paige had the babies. As it was, Piper was due to have Prue any minute now and the thought of adding another child into the mix seemed crazy. Luckily, their quarrels only lasted a few minutes but Piper wondered if having a little sister would be good for them.

The phone rang and Billy got up to get it. "Yeah, sure Paige," the blond said and hung up the phone. "Paige got back from her meeting but she had to go to the club to work out some kinks with the band that's playing tonight. She said she might be there awhile and asked us to meet her down there so we could talk about what the Elders told her."

"Um, but what about the kids," Piper asked. All of a sudden a burst of red light appeared out of nowhere and Leo, Coop, and Henry appeared.

"Did someone need a baby sitter," Leo asked and picked Chris up. Tickling his belly, the boy began laughing uncontrollably.

Piper looked back and forth from her husband to her sisters to her in-laws. She had a sneaking suspicion that something else was going on.

* * *

><p>Henry answered the door and invited Connor, Duncan and Richie into Halliwell Manor. "We put the girls down for their nap and the boys are playing in the sunroom," he told them. "We've got the game on in the conservatory and there's pizza and beer too. Just don't spill anything," he warned them. "Piper gets a bit testy when we wreck the place."<p>

"Where are the girls," Duncan asked.

* * *

><p>"Surprise!"<p>

Piper's jaw looked completely unhinged as it hit the floor. P3 had been transformed with a projector hanging from the stage; pictures of her as a child with her mom, Grams and sisters appeared and faded to make room for her wedding pictures and pictures of Wyatt and Chris. The tables were covered in pink tablecloths and the bar was serving pink non-alcoholic concoctions.

Friends from the bar and her restaurant were there, as well as friends from her life before she was Charmed. The moms from the day care were there and Piper even saw some friends that she and her sisters had made because they were Charmed. Waiters were walking around with the cutest little appetizers and there was a desert table with cake pops and tarts. Everything was perfect.

"You guys," she cried. "I thought I successfully got through this pregnancy without a shower," Piper laughed.

"Oh, come on," Paige said. "You didn't think we'd let you off the hook so easily, did you?"

"How'd you get Phoebe to keep her mouth shut?"

"Hey! I can keep a secret," the middle sister insisted.

"I didn't tell her about it until this morning," Paige said at the same time. "And I told Billy we were doing it next week."

Piper laughed and rubbed her belly when she gasped. Her sisters caught her as she stumbled and quickly steadied her. "Just a pregnancy thing," Piper lied through her teeth for the guests who had stopped to stare. "Can you guys help me to the office for a minute?"

The three witches escorted her to the office before they asked her what was going on.

"We don't have to wonder about Prue's powers anymore. I just had a premonition," her voice wavered in fear.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry that it's been taking me so long to update these chapters. I don't get a lot of time off and when I do I use it to veg out. Please continue to read and review. I love writing stories for you all. I hope you like the chapter, and I will try to update soon.

* * *

><p>Phoebe pressed her ear to Piper's womb as she giggled, excited that her niece shared her power of premonition; a bond that would forever connect the two as Phoebe would mentor the little witchling in the responsibilities of the power.<p>

Paige was more curious as to what it was Piper saw. Halliwell children usually had a purpose for using their powers in utero and she was sure this wasn't any different. "So what did you see?"

"I saw Prue and Duncan," Piper explained and sat down on the couch she kept back there.

"So we'll be able to get them together," Billy said, relieved to know that there was an end in sight.

"Not exactly," Piper said. The oldest of the three present sisters was still out of sorts and looked up to find three sets of worried eyes staring at her. "Sorry. It was my fist premonition and hopefully my last. It left me a little dizzy."

"I know that feeling," Phoebe told her and took her hand. "What else did you see?"

Piper exhaled heavily. "They were fighting. Playing the game," she said. "They each had swords out and the last thing I saw was Prue swinging for his head."

"Do you really think she could kill him," Paige asked.

"But she loves him," Billy exclaimed. "There's no way that either of them would hurt the other; I mean, they're soul mates," the blond asserted.

"It's not that simple," Phoebe said. Her splendor had been replaced with her own dark memories of her past. "They have this history between them that they don't understand because Duncan doesn't remember his past lives and whatever Prue remembers might be out of context. There's more than four hundred years of their lives that have been held in limbo because of Duncan's immortality. He's never been able to move on and find her again until Prue's last life and you know what that experience did to him."

"He's distrustful of her," Paige interrupted, already knowing where her sister was going with this. "Who can say if that's the only bad experience between them? People tend to hurt the one's they love the most."

"But they love each other," Billy gasped.

"I loved Cole," Phoebe said. "So much so I turned away from my family and gave evil an opening to take me over. Even when I fought it and found my way back I was the one who vanquished him," she told her friend. "People will hurt their loved ones for the best of reasons; I tried to give him peace when the Source possessed him. But given the worse of circumstances, betrayal, anger, jealousy, etc; people can kill their love so easily. Like extinguishing a flame."

They stared at each other in silence, the party still going on without them. Finally, Paige broke the silence.

"The Elders have agreed to allow us to see both Prue's and Duncan's past lives. We need to be at the manor at noon so I can take us up there," she told them. "I've already told Richie and Connor to bring Duncan. Hopefully it will give us the answers we need."

* * *

><p>"It was nice having a Man's night," Duncan said to his hosts. "I hope we can do this again sometimes."<p>

"Yeah," Leo said clapping him on the back. "Don't get me wrong, I love my wife and sisters-in law but it's nice to have some guy time. It's the one good thing about having brothers-in law; common experience and immediate camaraderie."

"We'll see you later," Duncan said as he and his friends prepared to leave.

"Come over for brunch tomorrow," Coop said. "Piper always makes enough to feed an army, and you can have a good meal before your trip tomorrow."

Duncan looked at the cupid in surprise. "What trip," he asked when Connor looked up.

"Paige has arranged for us to see your past lives," Connor explained. "Richie and I decided to wait and tell you after guy's night."

"Yeah, so that way you could enjoy yourself without any worrying," Richie said.

Stone faced, Duncan stared down at his two closest friends before looking back to Leo, Coop and Henry. "I guess we'll see you for brunch," he smiled and walked through the double doors.

"Uh oh," Connor joked to Richie, "seems our dear friend has his knickers in a bunch," before he too left for the night.

"See you guys tomorrow," the young immortal saluted the Halliwell husbands before jogging after his mentors.

"This should be interesting," Leo said closing the door behind them. "Who wants another beer?"

* * *

><p>Climbing into bed, Piper maneuvered her body pillow to cradle her expanding belly and allow her to face her husband.<p>

"I'm glad you had a good time at the shower," Leo said rubbing her arm.

"Yeah," Piper said. "Everything was great. Maybe I'll talk to Paige about coordinating events like that for the bar and the restaurant in the future."

"Did you get everything you need for the baby?"

"And more," she laughed. "Still, I kind of wanted a baby blanket like Phoebe made for the twins. You know, the pink ones with the triquetra on it," she explained.

"Well, maybe she's still working on it," her husband said. "If you really want one so badly you should ask her."

"Maybe tomorrow," Piper yawned and curled into her pillow before falling asleep.

* * *

><p>"So here's the deal," Paige explained. "The Elders have agreed to let us view your past lives," she told Duncan and the others. "In order to do it we have to go up <em>there.<em> They don't usually do that, and from what they told me you guys won't remember much. You'll only remember what you see of your past lives."

"They're very big on mystery," Piper added. "You'll feel everything going fuzzy but you'll remember less and less as time goes on."

"And we'll get to see everything," Billy asked. "Each past life and what happened to Phoebe Bowen?"

"That's what the Elders said but I guess we'll see," Paige told them. Turning to look at Duncan, she asked, "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he replied. "How does this work?"

"Well, we all have to be touching so we should all hold hands. Leo, Henry, Coop and Richie have agreed to stay behind with the kids. You might feel a little dizzy at first," Paige told them. "It's weird the first couple of times. You'll get used to it."

They appeared in the heavens, bright white lights ironically obscuring their view of their surroundings instead of illuminating it. Sandra appeared, the Elder with the closest relationship to the Charmed ones. "Allow me to show you to the viewing area," she said. "Normally, we would allow you to experience the past lives first hand but as they're not all your own and how many of you there are, it makes more sense to show you this way."

"How many lives will we be viewing," Duncan asked.

"You and Prudence are old souls," Sandra told the group. "There are over two thousand years of which you have walked this earth, and countless lives given to you to try to live out your purposes. Your immortality these past four hundred years has limited the amount of lives you have gone through, and unfortunately it means that this is your last chance to get things right."

"What do you mean," Phoebe asked. "What is their purpose and why is this their last chance?"

"Soul mates are used to describe the people you travel with throughout your lives," the Elder explained, "friends, relatives and even enemies who travel in circles over again because of strong bonds. True soul mates; man and woman, who never find their purpose together, are given chance and chance again to redeem their pasts and find peace.

"Rarely, though it does happen as is the case now, peace cannot be obtained and the mistakes of the past culminate into a cataclysmic cycle of events. Duncan's, and now Prudence's immortality is the event that will force their souls to find each other or force them to go their separate ways."

"How? How does that even happen," Piper asked. "If they really are soul mates than nothing can tear them apart!"

"Accept for each other," Sandra said painfully. "Love is a force so strong it can do anything, but unfortunately it is the most human thing that exists. And just like other human things, it can be corrupted to do awful things."

"Like tear two souls apart," Duncan whispered to himself.

"Yes," Sandra answered him. "Two immortals, who shall live forever as long as their heads remain on their shoulders, will continue to walk this earth either as lovers or as enemies. If you break the chains that bind you then you will destroy that wonderful connection you share and that will be the end of any lives you may have."

"Are you saying that they won't be reborn again," Billy asked.

"Yes. Their souls will not be recycled because they will have destroyed them," Sandra said. "Watch carefully," she told Duncan. "Learn from all the mistakes made, no matter who made them. Yours is a love that was written in the fates' design. We have been watching, hoping for peace to come your way. I can only give you my best wishes in this endeavor."

Phoebe and Piper stood side by side, holding each other. They were the only two in the room who felt exactly the same way at that moment. Fearful for the sister they had lost and only recently had hopes of regaining, the only real mother they had ever had.

Paige took Duncan's hand and led him to the center of the room. "This might hurt a little," she said, and the witch used an athame to cut the palm of his hand. Closing his palm, she let his blood drip into a bowl of water and recited, "As water give life, blood holds memories; allow us passage to times before, restore our minds of our histories; show us their past lives and their destinies."

The bright white light which had obscured their sight earlier blinded them now, only for one image to appear. "Find me, my prince," the figure called. "Save me," she demanded.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: a few things...italicized sections are visions or memories of the past. Italicized sections that are also bold are first hand experiences of the past life. As you'll see in the first section, Fionn wakes up from a dream, and then remembers how he met Sadhbh. Sadhbh rhymes with five. Fionn MacCumhaill is pronounced Finn next couple of chapters are going to be past lives without any scenes of the present day.

* * *

><p>"<em>Why haven't you found me yet," the aberration cried. "Find me, my Prince," the raven haired beauty asked the man, tall and fair with hair as white as the purest light. <em>

"_I search," he yelled out to her but he couldn't see her through the fog and mist of the forest. "Every day since and every day forward I search for you," he called out, his breathing ragged as he tried to follow the sound of her voice. _

"_My Prince," she seemed to whisper in his ear and for a moment he felt her so near to him but in an instant –the briefest of moments that it took him to turn in hopes of having her in his embrace again—she was gone. _

_Turning and twisting, he began to run and call out for her, "Sadhbh!" _

_**Fionn woke, startled by his hounds barking. He had dreamt of his lost love again, not for the first time since she had been taken from him. Looking into the night, he remembered his promise to her. Before the sun rose Fionn would be out there, searching to bring her home. **_

"_Pardon my hounds," Fionn had told her that first day. "Bran and Sceolan will not harm you."_

_The alabaster beauty with ebony hair glanced at the warrior through thick eyelashes, still kneeling in the grass where she had changed from a doe into her human form. _"_Are you a warrior," she asked. Barely seventeen, Sadhbh was undeniably beautiful; her skin shimmered in the sunlight and she looked at him with baited breath. _

"_I am Fionn MacCumhaill,leader of the Fianna. This is our castle; if you are in need of protection you will find shelter here," he told her. _

_Holding out her hand, her skin tingled with his touch as he took it and guided her to a standing position. "I've already found it," Sadhbh answered. She stared into his eyes before standing on her tip toes and gently kissed him in thanks._

* * *

><p>"Fionn MacCumhaill," Duncan whispered. This was the second life he had witnessed today and it rendered him speechless.<p>

"Wait, you recognized your past life," Phoebe asked him. "How is that possible," she looked to Sandra for answers.

"It shouldn't be," Sandra started to say.

"He doesn't remember it," Connor spoke for his friend who was still shell shocked. "It's celtic mythology. A legend we grew up hearing from our clansman."

"So Duncan's and Prue's past lives are famous stories," Paige asked. "Some people have all the luck," she joked.

"What is the legend of Fionn MacCumhaill," Piper asked.

Looking to Duncan, Connor saw that his clansman was still not prepared to speak about this. "He was the most famous warrior in celtic history. He was the leader of the Fianna, an army of the finest warriors known. One day he came across Sadhbh, whom he loved above all others.

"She was cursed to spend her life in the form of a doe for rejection the marriage proposal of Fear Diorich, when she was a young girl. One day someone took pitty on her and told her if she stepped foot on the castle of the Fianna that the curse would no longer have a hold on her," Connor explained.

"That's what we saw," Duncan said. "Fionn was remembering the first time they met."

"But why was she asking him to find her," Billy asked.

"One day, when Fionn was away at war with the Vikings, Sadhbh saw Fionn and his hounds return from war," Connor told her. "But it was a trick."

"It was Fear Diorich," Duncan interjected. "She ran to meet her husband and when she crossed the barrier she was turned back into a doe. Fionn looked for her for seven years but never found her, until one day he found their son in the forest."

"She was pregnant when she was taken?" Phoebe teared up a little. "That's so terrible!"

"I raised our son," Duncan said to no one in particular. "I looked at him and saw her each day. When I knew I would never find her, knowing I had him was what saved me."

Paige stepped forward. "Wait, I thought you didn't remember your past life? How do you know that?"

Turning to the group, Duncan stared at them for the first time with eyes wide open; completely focused. "I didn't. Not before," Mac said, "but seeing it; being reminded of it seems to be bringing it back. Even my first life in Rome is coming back."

"That isn't supposed to happen," Sandra stepped forward. "When souls are recycled they're stripped of all memories so that they have a fresh start to live and experience life without any biases. The spell was only meant to let you see; not to experience."

"Well, who wrote the spell, if you don't mind me asking," Phoebe said.

Paige close her eyes and rubbed her temples; a headache already brewing. "That would be Grams," she answered. "It was a unique situation and we," Paige waved her hands back and forth between herself and Sharon, "thought it would be better to use an individual spell."

"Well, I hate to say this," Phoebe said, "but Grams fudged the spell," shrugging her shoulders.

Bright cascading lights appeared and Penny Halliwell made her grand appearance. "And what do you mean by that," the Halliwell matriarch asked.

"Grams," Piper smiled. "Long time no see. How's it going?"

Penny turned to Piper and all of a sudden became corporeal. Touching her granddaughter's abdomen, the old witch smiled. "I just knew that you would have that little girl someday," she gushed. "Oh, look how big you are!"

"Grams," Phoebe said trying to get her attention back. "Hi, about that spell," she told her grandmother, "I think I know why it's having these side effects. It says to restore the mind of past histories and to allow passage to times before; that's why Duncan can remember his past lives."

"Uh oh," Piper said.

"Oh my God, are you in labor," Billy asked.

Piper waved the blond away. "No, the wording. I think you restored more than just Duncan's memories. I think you might have also restored Prue's, too."

Duncan's head turned to look at her. "Isn't she already having memories?"

"Yes," Piper said. "But she's only experiencing some of them. Right now she only remembers some of the reasons why she's mad at you and we don't know what those reasons are. What if there are worse things yet to see?"

* * *

><p>Prue remembered nothing; only coming to at the sound of this incredibly mournful, beautiful cry wailing from her lips. Minutes passes as the song escaped her breath, and when she opened her eyes she found that it was another one of her lives that she was experiencing<em>. <em>

_Kneeling before a river, her hands dug in the dirt they had clutched for support when her cry had first burst forth from her lips, Prue looked in the river to find her face. Her hair was red and freckles were sprinkled like fairy dust across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Despite her fair skin, the freckles cast a dewy sun kissed glow on her skin. _

_She was young in this life as well; no more than twenty years old. The sky was grey and clouds hovered above with mists of rain gravitating toward her. The grass was emerald green and vibrant despite the dismal weather, matching the color of her eyes. The cry erupted again from her lips and doves sprung from their branches, their wings flapping as they sought refuge somewhere else. _

_Rising from the earth, she moved; running through the forest as her body took control. Her heart felt heavy, as fear began to set in. Prue didn't know what was going to happen. She hadn't dreamt of this life yet and so it was unfamiliar to her. _

_Making her way into a little cottage, she had followed her cry to her home and the man she shared it with. "Gage," she cried, falling to his side. "Why," she shouted up to the ceiling. _

"_You know," a voice answered and she turned from her lover to see another of the Sidhe in her house. "The Sidhe are supposed to remain away from the human world. You left your people and ignored your magic. Were you really surprised that you called for his soul?"_

"_You did this? I know you did," she accused. _

"_I didn't have to, Aislinn. It was just his time. You had to know it would happen eventually. You have lived for hundreds of years and his life is a mortal one. That is why we don't lose our hearts to mortals, because sooner or later their lives will extinguish in what seems like only moments." _

"_But it's only been—"_

"_Ten years," her mother interrupted. "Like a grain of sand in the grand scheme of our lives. This is the very reason why the bean sídhe stay away from humans. You must come home now," her voice softened. _

"_No," Aislinn told her mother. "I will stay here," she gazed up at her mother. Her hands immediately went to her belly in a protective manner. "This is my home now. Go," she demanded. "Don't come back!"_

Prue returned to the home she had purchased a couple of years earlier. The memories were coming stronger now, and she was remembering much more of her lives then the snapshots that were pulling her away from the present.

Moving from her studio, she made her way to her bedroom to secure herself before the next life would pull her back. She didn't remember feeling so much heartache since she lost her mother and then Andy. Nothing had prepared her for this and she realized there was something bigger at play. Somehow, magic must be involved.

* * *

><p>"Okay," Piper asked. "What the hell is a bean-sidhe?"<p>

"You Americans would call them Banshee," Connor told them.

"A screaming, slutty demon whose cry targets those experiencing great sorrow causing their blood vessels to burst and making them drown in their own blood?" The entire group turned to stare at Phoebe. "What? I might have been one for a brief moment of time," she explained to the men.

"It's different," Sandra told the sisters. "The Banshee you know happens when a witch suffering from severe sorrow hears the cry of another Banshee and is turned. The bean-sidhe is where the name was taken from, because both of their cries are associated with death. However, the bean-sidhe is Sidhe, or faery. Their cry doesn't cause death, but it occurs when someone is going to die."

"Because they're fae," Connor explained, "they live very long lives; hundreds of years."

"Duncan, are you okay," Paige asked. When the group was paying attention to Sandra and Connor they hadn't realized that Mac had turned away. Laying a hand on his back, Paige turned him toward her so she could see him.

Tears ran down his face, silent. "Every time," he began, "there's a child. One that always loses a parent or both before they're old enough to remember them. I don't know if I can keep doing this," he said.

"How is that possible," Phoebe asked. "If she's fae and lives hundreds of years how can she become pregnant by a human?"

"It's been known to happen in folklore," Connor answered. "The fae may live very long lives but they aren't immortal. The Sidhe look the most like humans."

Sandra nodded. "Faeries and humans have been known to interact before. It's not as common now due to our large population and their somewhat small population," the Elder said, "but back then it wasn't so uncommon. It could explain why magic was introduced into your family and why you're magic is so strong."

"That's kind of cool," Paige said. "We come from faeries," she elbowed Piper. "Our little girls are gonna love that!"

Duncan bolted, leaving everyone else stunned.

"Where does he think he's going," Piper asked.

Paige held her hands up to stop Sandra from following. "It's okay," she said. "I'll go find him. He probably just needs a break."

Her Jimmy Choos were silent as she followed him down a bright white passageway. Grabbing him, Paige was surprised to find him hugging her as he tried to hold back his tears.


	14. Chapter 14

Paige was shocked. She had followed Duncan because of her whitelighter nature to help, but she knew he was much more friendly with Piper; both having strong feelings about their relationships with Prue. The youngest sister didn't expect the immortal to confide in her but she had hoped that she could offer him some comfort.

The spell going awry was making things much more difficult for him than it had to be. Duncan thought he would just be seeing his past life, not remembering it. In the single moment in which he hugged Paige, he remembered his entire lifetime with Aislinn.

_Gage followed his dog into the woods. He had been hunting when the dog went wild, running toward something that Gage was unaware of. _

_Following him to the brook, he slowed and took in a sharp breath of air. Kneeling in the brook was a young maiden with fire in her curling locks. He stopped and finally heard what must have distracted his hound. She was singing a song, low and sad. He didn't know how he had missed it earlier. It consumed all of his focus until he blocked out the world. _

_One foot in front of the other, the tall muscular man gravitated toward the ethereal figure. Stepping on a branch, she turned at sound of it snapping but instead of being alarmed by the intruder the girl smiled. _

"_Hello," she called from her perch. "Have you come to keep me company?"_

_Gage stepped closer to her, finally close enough to reach out to her. "Who are you," he whispered and knelt down beside her. _

"_My name is Aislinn," the girl leaned in and whispered in his ear, and touching her cheek to his she asked again, "have you come to keep me company?"_

_Lying back in the grass she looked deep in his eyes and held out her hand, interlocking it with his as Gage followed her into the grass._

* * *

><p><em>Aislinn sat in the chair, her hand rubbing her round belly as she sung a sad lullaby. It had only been months since the death of her love, but what should have seem like minutes to the Sidhe felt like centuries. Sometimes she felt like she was going to drown in her tears. <em>

_The warmth had left and the cold had been let in, and Aislinn no longer had it in her to sit by the creek and sing like she once had. There was nothing to sing for. Not yet. _

_Her solitude was broken when she felt the presence of another fae. "What are you doing here," she asked, turning from the hearth. _

"_I've come to keep you company," Fiona answered. "The troop is concerned for you and I thought it best for all of us if it were me who came to stay with you."_

_Aislinn rose from her chair to stare into the face of her sister. "I do not need, nor do I want, the troops' concern."_

_Fiona smiled sadly. "Either way, you have it little sister. You and your child are a part of us and shall be taken care of. Be glad I was the one to volunteer. They wanted to send Tianna," referring to their eldest sister, who was heir to their realm and would one day be queen. _

_Grasping each other's hands, the sisters shared a knowing look. Tianna had driven Aislinn away from their kingdom with her cruel disregard for their sisterhood; choosing for her husband the fae Aislinn had been wooed by. Alberich had abandoned their romance for the chance to be King. _

"_What would our dear sister want with watching over me and my child?"_

_Fionna chuckled sardonically. "Why, to welcome her long lost brethren with open arms and strengthen our community."_

"_And you want differently?"_

"_I'm here because of all my sisters you are the only one who inspires concern and action. I wish we all were as close as you and I have been, but I'm afraid that even in our long lifetimes we will not see that day come."_

_Eyes swelling, the copper haired beauty looked deeply into the eyes of the golden haired Fiona and managed to find her voice through the sobs that were beginning to choke her. "I cannot leave this place, sister. I shan't return home; not now, not ever. For if my magic can do anything, it will one day reunite me with my love and if I return to the realm I will be lost to him. I must stay," she said. _

"_And I knew that Tianna would do her best to drag you back, but if indeed your love is strong enough to withstand time than so is mine sister. I will wait with you and may you one day find love's tender kiss puckered on thy heart again," Fiona placed her other hand over her sister's bosom. "But let us begin anew right now, and care for the love you have created," she said rubbing her sister's abdomen. _

_Aislinn began to cry and allowed her sister to embrace her. "Does mother know you aren't to return with me?"_

"_Mother need not know. Not for many years to come."_

* * *

><p>Prue wept as one hand instantly went to her heart and the other to her womb, now barren. She had not been given the opportunity in this lifetime to carry a child and that broke her heart almost as much as the memories of children she remembered loving but had never been allowed to hold or watch them grow.<p>

"Fiona must be Piper," Prue said to herself, and remembered back when Phoebe's past life had come back to haunt her. Souls that traveled together were able to recognize one another and Piper's heart was evident in Fiona's pure hearted kindness.

How extraordinary the lives they had led had been, and magic seemed to always play a significant role –whether that was good or bad was still to be determined.

Prue walked over to a small wooden trunk and knelt down beside it, pulling out old sketches that went back as far as her high school days. The images had appeared in her mind like daydreams, so even later when she discovered her heritage it had never occurred to her that they might actually mean anything—yet here she was, searching for every answer she could hope to find in what had seemed to be figments of her imagination.

How had she been able to keep the memories after her soul had been recycled? And why were they just now becoming so much clearer than they had ever been? The only way to find out would be to confront her demons and go face to face with the soul mate that had caused her entire dilemma, but she feared she would destroy them both before she got her answers.

* * *

><p>"Wow, no wonder Prue's holding a grudge," Phoebe said a couple of hours later. They had been through many more viewings of past lives and with each one it appeared that there was no happy ending in store for the two lovers.<p>

Prue and Duncan had been witches for at least six of their past lives; or members of the sidhe, though sometimes Duncan had been mortal and for whatever reason heartache always followed. Prue was never short of amazing, having been not only fae in some of her lives but also having led several historically important lives as a vestal virgin, Morgana La Faye, and the wife of a highland king. In watching these lost moments play out, Phoebe began to feel guilt for the role _she _played in Prue's unhappiness.

One lifetime would have been a shame, but the fact that there had only been one life in which Prue had known happiness at the end of her life made her realize that had she been the kind of person she was now back when Prue was alive, Prue might have had the opportunity to do more for herself like studying photojournalism like she had dreamed about. Now that she was an empath and had experienced feelings of being spiritually distraught, Phoebe knew that Prue had carried those feelings with her to every new life and had been held back from any true new beginnings.

Over the lifetimes they had shared, third party interferences that had initially been responsible for their separation had dwindled away and the unhealed pieces of their souls became the enemy; keeping them from each other if only to keep their pride intact, as was the case with the last lifetime the group had witnessed.

"I can't believe that you were so close," Piper said softly, "to finally be together, and yet you let her walk away and become someone else's queen because you had too much pride than to work things out with her family and create a peace treaty that would have bettered both highland tribes."

"Scotts are a proud group," Connor said. "Two warring families would fight till both sides were extinct before sacrificing their pride. That must have been the life before Duncan found his way to my tribe; before the witch brought him to the MacLeod's."

"And it still doesn't tell us why Phoebe Bowen left him all of a sudden," Paige interjected.

"I think I can answer that," Penelope spoke. "After cursing P. Russell—Phoebe's past life—in order to ensure that she never be reunited with her warlock lover, Phoebe and her cousin—my mother—were the soul living members of the Halliwell line.

"Well, naturally they shared the responsibility of the Warren legacy; protecting innocents and guarding the Nexus. There was an earthquake in 1927 that wreaked havoc on the Manor, though it wasn't as bad as the 1905 earthquake that caused the Manor to be rebuilt entirely—"

"Get on with it Grams," Piper joked.

"Anyway," Grams glared at Piper, "my mother told me that for months after they had to deal with the ramifications of the Nexus being opened."

"Excuse me, but what exactly is a Nexus," Connor asked.

"A place of great spiritual power, created by being equally distant to each of the five natural and spiritual elements which usually places it in a pentagram," Billie told him. "Their house is built directly in the middle of the biggest spiritual nexus to exist in California."

"What exactly were these complications," Paige asked her Grams.

"The Woogie," Phoebe answered. "It was a shadow monster or demon that was trapped inside the nexus in order to keep it from spreading its evil. Whenever an earthquake opened up the ground above the nexus it would escape."

"That's right," Grams nodded. "And, well, once they had things under control you must have moved on, Duncan. Phoebe remained at the manor until my birth two years later before moving out. She never married, and then she passed away in 1970 at the age of 75. She helped train Patty and I while we were growing into our powers."

"It's so weird to think that I'm named after my sister," Phoebe replied and Piper stifled a laugh.

"Pride cometh before the fall," Sandra warned the group and steered the discussion back to a more serious direction. "As these two souls suffered tragedy after tragedy, the pieces of their souls withered and their bond has nearly broken. The way to undo this is to restore the virtues with which your souls were originally imbued."

"And what virtues be those," Mac asked.

"Chastity, charity, temperance, patience, diligence, humility, kindness, and prudence. It won't be easy, and it will most likely take a great amount of time," Sandra warned him, "but time is something that you two have been granted. Use it wisely," she begged.


End file.
